Best PlacesAdams County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Adams County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Adams County ranks 991st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $103,461, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are air quality, childcare costs, and thin health care access.
The best neighborhoods in Adams County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Adams County
The parts of Adams County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Commerce City
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and crime runs lower.
Broomfield
More adults hold degrees, though fewer households have young kids.
Brighton
More residents vote, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Henderson
Streets are more car-dependent and schools score lower.
Aurora
It is noisier and biking is worse.
Westminster, Thornton & Northglenn
Scores close to Aurora, except that tree cover is thicker here.
Sherrelwood, Berkley & Denver
Prices have run up more.
Derby
Health care is harder to reach and health outcomes score lower.
Adams County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Adams County's strengths and weaknesses
Adams County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Biking is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Few empty homes and transit follow.
The one real hole is air quality, near the bottom of the country. Childcare costs and thin health care access also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Adams County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of counties
Where Adams County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,598 a month, better than only 2% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Adams County
A household needs to earn about $126,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Adams County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $103,461, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Adams County's effective rate of 0.62%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Adams County
Adams County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Adams County.
Who works in Adams County, and how
Work in Adams County centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Adams County
Adams County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 80% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Adams County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Adams County growing, and who is moving in?
Adams County has grown about 13% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Denver, CO metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Adams County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Adams County, month by month
Adams County sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 63° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 89° | 75° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Adams County
Denver International sits about 13 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.1 million passengers in 2025, with 250 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Adams County
Schools across Adams County average a D+, better than 11% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hulstrom Options K-8 SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Aurora Quest K-8A+ · 73% proficient
- Meridian Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Westlake Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Rocky Top Middle SchoolB+ · 47% proficient
- Colorado Preparatory Academy Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Legacy High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Colorado Preparatory Academy High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Eagle Ridge AcademyB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Adams County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Adams County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Adams County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Adams County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Adams County
Is Adams County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Adams County ranks 991st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, few empty homes, and transit, and lowest on air quality and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Adams County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $492,564. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $103,461 median income, cost of living beats 91% of counties.
Is Adams County safe?
Adams County is safer than 30% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $596 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Adams County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 25. That works out to about 108 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Adams County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Commerce City, Broomfield, and Brighton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Adams County good for families?
Schools beat 11% of counties, crime safety beats 30%, and childcare runs $1,598 a month.
Is Adams County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 75% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Adams County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Adams County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Adams County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Adams County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Adams County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Adams County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Adams County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Adams County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Adams County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.