Best PlacesCentral West Denver, Denver, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central West Denver, Denver, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Central West Denver, Denver ranks 4,251st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Central West Denver, Denver
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.
Central West Denver, Denver's strengths and weaknesses
Where Central West Denver, Denver ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 77% of neighborhoods
Where Central West Denver, Denver ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,827 a month, better than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Central West Denver, Denver
A household needs to earn about $163,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central West Denver, Denver home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $68,569, 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 Central West Denver, Denver's effective rate of 0.44%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Central West Denver, Denver
Central West Denver, Denver runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Central West Denver, Denver.
Who works in Central West Denver, Denver, and how
Work in Central West Denver, Denver centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 59%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Central West Denver, Denver
Central West Denver, Denver has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Central West Denver, Denver and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Central West Denver, Denver, month by month
Central West Denver, Denver sees roughly 94 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 Central West Denver, Denver
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 Central West Denver, Denver
Schools across Central West Denver, Denver average a D+, better than 20% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Joe Shoemaker SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Fairview Elementary SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- North High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Compassion Road AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
- Denver Montessori Junior/senior High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Central West Denver, Denver school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central West Denver, Denver 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 Central West Denver, Denver against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Central West Denver, Denver
Is Central West Denver, Denver a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central West Denver, Denver ranks 4,251st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on heat safety, low property taxes, and transit, and lowest on state finances and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Central West Denver, Denver expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $654,532. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $68,569 median income, cost of living beats 30% of neighborhoods.
Is Central West Denver, Denver safe?
Central West Denver, Denver is safer than 14% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,549 per resident a year.
Compare Central West Denver, Denver with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central West Denver, Denver. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central West Denver, Denver 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.
Central West Denver, Denver detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central West Denver, Denver: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central West Denver, Denver: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central West Denver, Denver: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central West Denver, Denver: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central West Denver, Denver 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.