Adams County, CO

County Profile

530,225 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Adams County, CO.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

64out of 100
Area Score
Top 43% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity788th of 1,255 counties measured50
GrowthTop 31% of 1,226 counties measured60
Housing affordability1119th of 1,255 counties measured66
Climate996th of 1,254 counties measured60
Physical resilienceTop 35% of 1,255 counties measured71
AccessTop 6% of 1,255 counties measured98
Economic stabilityTop 9% of 1,255 counties measured90
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.2% and median household income $94,571, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published profiles.

Buying strains local incomes far more than renting does — the median home is 5.1 times median household income, against a historic benchmark near three — while rent takes 23% of it.

A major airport is 13 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
530,225
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$94,571
Top 7% nationally
Density
454/sq mi
1166.8 sq mi of land
Median age
34.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Adams County
Colorado
Metro area
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
Nearest major airport
CFO
13 mi · Colorado Air and Space Port
Median home value
$484,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% is lower than 50% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment fell 2.9% over the past year, to 284,317 employed residents.

29% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 74% of measured US locations.

Household income is higher than at least 93% of measured US locations.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$1,524$94,571Top 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$661$42,206Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income$58,328Top 43%of 1,2062023
Poverty rate9.8%Bottom 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute31.6 minTop 17%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher29.0%Top 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment284,317Top 10%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.2%Bottom 19%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.9%Bottom 10%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force296,816Top 9%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation72.2%Top 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 45%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate4.2%Top 50%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.82.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.2% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202495k78k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $94,571 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.

There are 18.1 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
155
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
Reading proficiency
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Westminster High SchoolWestminster Public Schools2,01023.6
Horizon High SchoolAdams 12 Five Star Schools1,96620.3
The Pinnacle Charter School · charterState Charter School Institute1,90517.3
Academy of Charter Schools · charterState Charter School Institute1,88718.9
Northglenn High SchoolAdams 12 Five Star Schools1,84419.4
Prairie View High SchoolSchool District 27J1,80920.8
Mountain Range High SchoolAdams 12 Five Star Schools1,78820.8
Riverdale Ridge High SchoolSchool District 27J1,78421.8
Brighton High SchoolSchool District 27J1,73319.5
Stargate Charter School · charterAdams 12 Five Star Schools1,57219.6
Adams City High SchoolSchool District N. 14 in the county of Adams & State of Colo1,50020.3
Thornton High SchoolAdams 12 Five Star Schools1,43916.4

62.0% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Colorado’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,781 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.1 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
22.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,781
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$484,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income5.12Top 8%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate68.6%Bottom 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±113195,793Top 5%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$21$1,781Top 3%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,903$484,200Top 5%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.6%Top 9%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate3.6%Bottom 1%of 3,2222024 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
60/ 100
Top 31% of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, 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 542,973 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

At 5.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
2,664
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.0
Top 30% nationally
Year over year
+5%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
26.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024543k521k
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
2020202120222023202420255k2k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−29%).

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 19°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 14.5 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 55, in the Moderate band, and about 22 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DENVER INTL AP, 17.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index93.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation14.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low19°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 100222024 calendar year
Median air quality index55.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing44°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
55
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
93
90th percentile index
Days above 100
22
unhealthy for sensitive groups

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

71 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hail, heat wave and winter weather.

HailHigh
Winter weatherModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Adams County records 5.2 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 14.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 26.4 per 100,000 residents in Adams County.

Homicide
5.2
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
26.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
19.7
per 100,000 residents

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 Adams 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 Adams County rather than Adams County 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

8 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 13 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Colorado Air and Space PortCFO13 mi8,002 ft
Denver IntlDEN18 mi16,000 ft
CentennialAPA35 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
64
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

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)
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
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)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, 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.