Best PlacesHighlands Ranch, CO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Highlands Ranch area, 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.
Highlands Ranch ranks 2nd of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Only one U.S. citie scores higher. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $169,004, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are cell coverage, state finances, and childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in Highlands Ranch
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.
Highlands Ranch's strengths and weaknesses
Highlands Ranch ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys, heat safety, and high incomes are the strongest pieces.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Cell coverage, state finances, and childcare costs hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Highlands Ranch ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$169,004 median, better than 99% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of cities
Where Highlands Ranch ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,607 a month, better than only 10% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Highlands Ranch
A household needs to earn about $194,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Highlands Ranch home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $169,004, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment and a 6.8% 30-year fixed rate. The rate updates weekly from Freddie Mac; property tax uses Highlands Ranch's effective rate against the median home value.
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 Highlands Ranch
Highlands Ranch'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 Highlands Ranch.
Who works in Highlands Ranch, and how
Work in Highlands Ranch centers on professional & technical 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 64%
- Work from home 33%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Highlands Ranch
Highlands Ranch has more parkland per resident than 93% of cities. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Highlands Ranch, month by month
Highlands Ranch sees roughly 151 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 18. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
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 Highlands Ranch
Denver International sits about 27 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 Highlands Ranch
Schools across Highlands Ranch average an A−, better than 86% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Northridge Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Stone Mountain ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Eldorado Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rocky Heights Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Ranch View Middle SchoolA− · 52% proficient
- Mountain Ridge Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Rock Canyon High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Mountain Vista High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Thunderridge High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Highlands Ranch school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Highlands Ranch 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 Highlands Ranch against the other 444 cities.
Who Highlands Ranch suits
Families
Schools beat 86% of the country and crime runs low. Compare neighborhoods on the map for the best fit.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of cities and 33% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather is mild, health care access is good, and it stays quiet.
Common questions about living in Highlands Ranch
Is Highlands Ranch a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Highlands Ranch ranks 2nd of 445 cities. It scores highest on what local pay buys, heat safety, and high incomes, 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 Highlands Ranch expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $754,200. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $169,004 median income, cost of living beats 99% of cities.
Is Highlands Ranch safe?
Yes, Highlands Ranch is safer than 91% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $329 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Highlands Ranch?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 18. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
Is Highlands Ranch good for families?
Schools beat 86% of cities, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Is Highlands Ranch good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of cities, and internet is widely advertised, so a big-employer salary stretches further here.
Compare Highlands Ranch with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Highlands Ranch. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Highlands Ranch 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.
Highlands Ranch detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Highlands Ranch: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Highlands Ranch: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Highlands Ranch: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Highlands Ranch: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Highlands Ranch 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.