Cherry Creek, Colorado
Area Profile
10,721 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Cherry Creek, in Arapahoe County.
Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.
Unemployment is 3.9% and median household income $153,776, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.
Rent takes 16% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 5.8 times that income.
A major airport is 3 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 3.9% is lower than 66% of the 3,904 measured US cities.
Employment fell 2.9% over the past year, to 355,111 employed residents.
76% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 98% of measured US cities.
Household income is higher than at least 95% of measured US cities.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$18,341 | $153,776 | Top 5%of 29,573 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$13,624 | $89,848 | Top 3%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 5.0% | Bottom 24%of 31,900 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 25.0 min | Bottom 41%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 76.1% | Top 2%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 355,111 | Top 20%of 3,904 | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | -2.7% | Bottom 13%of 3,903 | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | -2.9% | Bottom 11%of 3,904 | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 369,478 | Top 20%of 3,904 | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 71.4% | Top 15%of 31,933 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $81,690 | Top 18%of 3,658 | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $62,320 | Top 11%of 3,658 | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | -0.1% | Bottom 41%of 3,904 | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.9% | Bottom 34%of 3,904 | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 42,810 | $37,070 |
| Retail Salespersons | 40,340 | $38,470 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 32,610 | $44,480 |
| Registered Nurses | 30,380 | $101,130 |
| Business Operations Specialists, All Other | 28,670 | $94,990 |
| Software Developers | 27,010 | $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.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Arapahoe County, CO, which contains this city.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Prices for everything a household buys run about 6% above the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.
Median rent of $2,093 takes 16% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 5.8 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.
Prices here run about 6% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living index | 105.8 | Top 33%of 3,658 | 2023 |
| Home price to income | 5.78 | Top 10%of 28,473 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 79.8% | Top 42%of 31,843 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±371 | 4,340 | Top 13%of 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$194 | $2,093 | Top 7%of 23,432 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$47,778 | $888,900 | Top 3%of 29,342 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 16.3% | Bottom 33%of 23,201 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 4.9% | Bottom 28%of 32,001 | 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 →No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.
Weather & climate
5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 19°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 15.0 inches.
Air quality measures a median index of 49, in the Good band, and about 17 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| 90th percentile air quality index | 87.0 | 2024 calendar year |
| Annual precipitation | 15.0" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 19°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 87°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Days above AQI 100 | 17 | 2024 calendar year |
| Median air quality index | 49.0 | 2024 calendar year |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 42°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.
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. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hail and tornado.
Low or minimal exposure: lightning, strong wind, inland flooding, cold wave, winter weather, earthquake, wildfire, volcanic activity, heat wave, landslide, drought, ice storm.
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.
Safety
How it’s measured →These are deaths, not offences — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.
Arapahoe County records 4.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at 13.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at 25.0 per 100,000 residents in Arapahoe County.
Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.
Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Arapahoe County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Cherry Creek rather than Cherry Creek itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.
What this profile does not cover
Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.
- Reported crime
- Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
- Taxes
- Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.
Access
9 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 3 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centennial | APA | 3 mi | 10,001 ft |
| Denver Intl | DEN | 20 mi | 16,000 ft |
| Colorado Air and Space Port | CFO | 21 mi | 8,002 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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Other cities in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
Same metropolitan area, measured the same way| City | County | Population | Area Score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | Denver County | 718,877 | 57 | vs Cherry Creek |
| Aurora | Arapahoe County | 394,432 | 58 | vs Cherry Creek |
| Lakewood | Jefferson County | 156,583 | 47 | vs Cherry Creek |
| Thornton | Adams County | 144,187 | 61 | vs Cherry Creek |
| Arvada | Jefferson County | 122,634 | 55 | vs Cherry Creek |
| Westminster | Adams County | 115,484 | 61 | vs Cherry Creek |
| Centennial | Arapahoe County | 108,201 | 64 | vs Cherry Creek |
| Highlands Ranch | Douglas County | 102,257 | — | vs Cherry Creek |
| Castle Rock | Douglas County | 79,123 | 65 | vs Cherry Creek |
| Broomfield | Broomfield County | 76,304 | 64 | vs Cherry Creek |
| Commerce City | Adams County | 66,445 | 67 | vs Cherry Creek |
| Parker | Douglas County | 61,783 | 67 | vs Cherry Creek |
Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put Cherry Creek side by side with a similar place.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Housing | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 | Annually, each December |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | June 2026 | Monthly |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
| safety | U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Provisional county-level mortality by intent | April, 2025 to March, 2026 | Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years |
| Climate | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System Daily Air Quality Index by county | 2024 calendar year | Annually, once a calendar year is complete |
Profile recalculated August 30, 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.