Best PlacesHighland Park, Aurora, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Highland Park, Aurora, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Highland Park, Aurora ranks 3,402nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Highland Park, Aurora
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.
Highland Park, Aurora's strengths and weaknesses
Where Highland Park, Aurora ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 76% of neighborhoods
Where Highland Park, Aurora ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Highland Park, Aurora
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Highland Park, Aurora home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $109,539; 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 Highland Park, Aurora'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 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 Highland Park, Aurora
Highland Park, Aurora runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Highland Park, Aurora.
Who works in Highland Park, Aurora, and how
Work in Highland Park, Aurora centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Highland Park, Aurora
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Highland Park, Aurora.
What the weather is like in Highland Park, Aurora, month by month
Highland Park, Aurora sees roughly 62 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 Highland Park, Aurora
Denver International sits about 14 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 Highland Park, Aurora
Schools across Highland Park, Aurora average a C, better than 40% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Aurora Quest K-8A+ · 73% proficient
- Joe Shoemaker SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Lansing Elementary Community SchoolD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Middle SchoolF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- George Washington High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- William Smith High SchoolD · 22% 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 Highland Park, Aurora school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Highland Park, Aurora 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 Highland Park, Aurora against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Highland Park, Aurora
Is Highland Park, Aurora a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Highland Park, Aurora ranks 3,402nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on heat safety, low property taxes, and biking, and lowest on cell coverage and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Highland Park, Aurora expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $479,514. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $109,539 median income, cost of living beats 78% of neighborhoods.
Is Highland Park, Aurora safe?
Highland Park, Aurora is safer than 36% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $753 per resident a year.
Compare Highland Park, Aurora with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Highland Park, Aurora. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Highland Park, Aurora 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.
Highland Park, Aurora detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Highland Park, Aurora: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Highland Park, Aurora: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Highland Park, Aurora: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Highland Park, Aurora: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Highland Park, Aurora 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.