Best PlacesArapahoe County, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Arapahoe 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.
Arapahoe County ranks 327th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $116,761, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, air quality, and state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Arapahoe 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 Arapahoe County
The parts of Arapahoe 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.
Centennial & Littleton
More adults hold degrees, more residents vote, and schools score higher.
Greenwood Village
Local pay stretches further, though fewer households have young kids.
Englewood
Streets are more walkable, though incomes run lower.
Glendale
It is quieter and transit reaches more jobs.
Aurora
Health care is harder to reach and crime runs higher.
Arapahoe County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Arapahoe County's strengths and weaknesses
Arapahoe County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Biking is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Transit and population health follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Air quality and state finances also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Arapahoe County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of counties
Where Arapahoe County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,581 a month, better than only 2% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 9% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Arapahoe County
A household needs to earn about $151,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Arapahoe County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $116,761, 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 Arapahoe County's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Arapahoe County
Arapahoe County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Arapahoe County.
Who works in Arapahoe County, and how
Work in Arapahoe County centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Arapahoe County
Arapahoe County has more parkland per resident than 76% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 77% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Arapahoe County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Arapahoe County growing, and who is moving in?
Arapahoe County has grown about 8% 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 Arapahoe County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Arapahoe County, month by month
Arapahoe County sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 31° | 18° |
| April | 65° | 48° | 32° |
| July | 92° | 74° | 59° |
| October | 70° | 51° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Arapahoe County
Denver International sits about 17 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 Arapahoe County
Schools across Arapahoe County average a C, better than 36% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Challenge SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Aurora Quest K-8A+ · 73% proficient
- Cottonwood Creek Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Englewood Leadership AcademyA+ · 78% proficient
- Campus Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- John Wesley Powell Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Cherry Creek High SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Arapahoe High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- George Washington High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Arapahoe County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Arapahoe 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 Arapahoe County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Arapahoe County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 21% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Arapahoe County
Is Arapahoe County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Arapahoe County ranks 327th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, transit, and population health, and lowest on childcare costs and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Arapahoe County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $598,005. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $116,761 median income, cost of living beats 97% of counties.
Is Arapahoe County safe?
Arapahoe County is safer than 31% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $584 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Arapahoe County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 18. That works out to about 105 pleasant days a year, more than 64% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Arapahoe County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Centennial & Littleton, Greenwood Village, and Englewood. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Arapahoe County good for families?
Schools beat 36% of counties, crime safety beats 31%, and childcare runs $1,581 a month.
Is Arapahoe County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 80% of counties. About 21% of workers already work from home.
Compare Arapahoe County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Arapahoe County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Arapahoe 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.
Arapahoe County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Arapahoe County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Arapahoe County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Arapahoe County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Arapahoe County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Arapahoe 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.