AreaProfile

Aurora, Colorado

Area Profile

394,432 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Aurora, in Arapahoe County.

60
Area Score
Bottom 42% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity86th of 139 published cities51
GrowthTop 44% of 134 published cities56
Housing affordability98th of 150 published cities60
Climate129th of 149 published cities59
Physical resilience76th of 150 published cities55
AccessTop 11% of 149 published cities99
Economic stabilityTop 13% of 150 published cities67
The quick read

A major airport is 11 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

Its Area Score of 60 places Aurora in the top 58% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
394,432
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$88,368
Top 26% nationally
Density
2,404/sq mi
164.1 sq mi of land
Median age
35.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Arapahoe County
Colorado
Metro area
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
Nearest major airport
DEN
11 mi · Denver Intl
Median home value
$469,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% is lower than 69% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.9% over the past year, to 208,799 employed residents.

34% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 74% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,017$88,368Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$854$42,105Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate11.9%Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute30.5 minTop 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher33.6%Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment208,799Top 32%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.2%Bottom 19%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.9%Bottom 9%June 2026
Labor force217,902Top 32%June 2026
Labor force participation72.0%Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$81,690Top 9%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$62,320Top 7%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 45%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.2%Bottom 31%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/067.42.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.2% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202488k72k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $88,368 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers42,810$37,070
Retail Salespersons40,340$38,470
Stockers and Order Fillers32,610$44,480
Registered Nurses30,380$101,130
Business Operations Specialists, All Other28,670$94,990
Software Developers27,010$137,610

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,835 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.3 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
24.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,835
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$469,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.31Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate62.4%Bottom 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,265152,377Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$26$1,835Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,518$469,100Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income24.9%Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.6%Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
56/ 100
Top 44% of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 4% since 2020, reaching 403,130 in 2024.

At 4.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1,833
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.7
Top 42% nationally
Year over year
+45%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
37.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024403k387k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202120222023202420254k2k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−43%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 18°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 15.4 inches, including 49.0 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DENVER-STAPLETON, 8.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation15.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall49.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low18°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing43°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

55 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hail and tornado.

HailHigh
TornadoElevated

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, strong wind, winter weather, cold wave, inland flooding, earthquake, wildfire, volcanic activity, heat wave, drought, landslide, ice storm, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

9 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 11 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Denver IntlDEN11 mi16,000 ft
Colorado Air and Space PortCFO11 mi8,002 ft
CentennialAPA12 mi10,001 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
60
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Aurora

6 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
8001373,248$101,19161
8001668,268$150,49265
8001153,695$74,02259
8001251,052$73,00056
8001042,439$63,57955
8001740,584$80,52457