Best PlacesDenver, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Denver, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Denver ranks 296th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 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.
Denver's strengths and weaknesses
Where Denver ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of cities
- QuietBetter than 97% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 94% of cities
Where Denver ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 2% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of cities
- Short commute33.1 minutes each way, better than only 11% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Denver
A household needs to earn about $128,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Denver home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $122,068; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Denver'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 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 Denver
Denver runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Denver.
Who works in Denver, and how
Work in Denver centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Denver
Denver has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Denver and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Denver, month by month
Denver sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 30° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Denver
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 20 miles away.
The best schools in and around Denver
Schools across Denver average an A, better than 94% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Woodland Heights ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
- Rock Springs ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Catawba Springs ElementaryA+ · 76% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bailey MiddleA+ · 75% proficient
- North Lincoln MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- East Lincoln MiddleA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Challenger Early College HighA+ · 94% proficient
- William Amos Hough HighA+ · 81% proficient
- North Lincoln HighA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Denver school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
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 Denver against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Denver suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of cities and 24% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Denver
Is Denver a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Denver ranks 296th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on civic engagement, quiet, and health care access, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Denver expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $508,086. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $122,068 median income, cost of living beats 91% of cities.
Is Denver safe?
Yes, Denver is safer than 72% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $289 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Denver?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 30. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 39% of cities.
Is Denver good for families?
Schools beat 94% of cities, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $806 a month.
Compare Denver with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Denver. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 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.
Denver detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Denver: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Denver: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Denver: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Denver: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
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.