Best Neighborhoods in Denver, CO
4 neighborhoods ranked by safety, walkability, affordability, and quality of life — powered by real data from the US Census, FBI, EPA, and Walk Score.
Best Neighborhoods in Denver, CO — Key Takeaways
The best neighborhood in Denver is Highlands with a Kurby Score of 67/100. Denver has 4 neighborhoods ranked by quality of life data. The safest neighborhood is Highlands with a violent crime rate of 4.9 per 1,000 residents. The most affordable is RiNo with a median home value of $475,000. The most walkable is Highlands with a Walk Score of 94/100.
Denver has a population of 715,522, a median household income of $72,661, an unemployment rate of 3.9%. The median home value citywide is $530,000, which is 88% above the national average of $281,900.
Data sourced from the US Census Bureau, FBI Crime Data Explorer, EPA AirNow, Walk Score, and FEMA. Last updated: March 2026.
Top 3 Neighborhoods
| # | Neighborhood | Kurby Score | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands | 67 | ||
| LoDo | 65 | ||
| RiNo | 64 | ||
4 | Cherry Creek | 58 |
Rankings by Category
Top 5 neighborhoods in Denver for each quality-of-life metric.
Lowest violent crime rate
Highest Walk Score
Lowest median home value
Lowest unemployment rate
Highest median household income
Lowest Air Quality Index
Neighborhoods are ranked using the Kurby Score, a composite quality-of-life index that evaluates seven weighted categories based on publicly available data:
- Affordability
- 20% weight
- Walkability & Transit
- 15% weight
- Safety
- 15% weight
- Environment
- 15% weight
- Housing Market
- 15% weight
- Education
- 10% weight
- Economy
- 10% weight
Each category incorporates multiple data points. For example, Safety uses both violent and property crime rates; Environment considers air quality (AQI), noise levels, climate risk, and flood zone status; Housing Market factors in vacancy rates, homeownership rates, and effective tax rates.
Data Sources: US Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR), EPA AirNow, Walk Score, DOT National Transportation Noise Map, FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and EIA Electricity Data. All data is updated on a rolling basis as new government releases become available.