Best PlacesColumbine, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Columbine, 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.
Columbine ranks 375th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Columbine
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.
Columbine's strengths and weaknesses
Where Columbine ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of cities
Where Columbine ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,754 a month, better than only 6% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 28% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 31% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Columbine
A household needs to earn about $160,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Columbine home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $139,262, 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 Columbine's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Columbine
Columbine'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 Columbine.
Who works in Columbine, and how
Work in Columbine centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Columbine
Columbine has more parkland per resident than 94% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Columbine and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Columbine, month by month
Columbine sees roughly 148 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 Columbine
Denver International sits about 28 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 Columbine
Schools across Columbine average an A−, better than 83% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Wilder Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Leawood Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Normandy Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Manning Options SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Falcon Bluffs Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Ken Caryl Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- D'evelyn Junior/senior High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Chatfield High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Heritage High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Columbine school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Columbine 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 Columbine against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Columbine suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 22% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 81% of cities and health care access beats 59%.
Common questions about living in Columbine
Is Columbine a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Columbine ranks 375th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on civic engagement, heat safety, and fast internet, 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 Columbine expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $634,142. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $139,262 median income, cost of living beats 88% of cities.
Is Columbine safe?
Columbine is safer than 38% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $468 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Columbine?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 18. That works out to about 148 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of cities.
Is Columbine good for families?
Schools beat 83% of cities, crime safety beats 38%, and childcare runs $1,754 a month.
Compare Columbine with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Columbine. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Columbine 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.
Columbine detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Columbine: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Columbine: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Columbine: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Columbine: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Columbine 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.