Best PlacesCentennial, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Centennial, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Centennial ranks 273rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Centennial
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.
Centennial's strengths and weaknesses
Where Centennial ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of cities
- BikingBetter than 92% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 91% of cities
Where Centennial ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,581 a month, better than only 11% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 24% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 29% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Centennial
A household needs to earn about $169,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Centennial home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $141,375, 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 Centennial's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 Centennial
Centennial runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Centennial.
Who works in Centennial, and how
Work in Centennial centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Centennial
Centennial has more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Centennial and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Centennial, month by month
Centennial sees roughly 144 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 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 | 64° | 48° | 32° |
| July | 90° | 74° | 59° |
| October | 69° | 52° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Centennial
Denver International sits about 21 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 Centennial
Schools across Centennial average a B−, better than 52% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Lois Lenski Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Homestead Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Heritage Heights AcademyA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Campus Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- John Wesley Powell Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Newton Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Arapahoe High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- Heritage High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Littleton High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Centennial school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Centennial 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 Centennial against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Centennial suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 27% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Centennial
Is Centennial a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Centennial ranks 273rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on heat safety, what local pay buys, and population health, 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 Centennial expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $665,378. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $141,375 median income, cost of living beats 94% of cities.
Is Centennial safe?
Centennial is safer than 51% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $424 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Centennial?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 18. That works out to about 144 pleasant days a year, more than 80% of cities.
Is Centennial good for families?
Schools beat 52% of cities, crime safety beats 51%, and childcare runs $1,581 a month.
Compare Centennial with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Centennial. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Centennial 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.
Centennial detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Centennial: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Centennial: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Centennial: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Centennial: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Centennial 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.
- 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.