80401Golden, Colorado

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 80401.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 16% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 42% of 6,210 published ZIP areas59
Growth5191st of 5,428 published ZIP areas15
Housing affordability4892nd of 6,685 published ZIP areas63
Climate6010th of 6,789 published ZIP areas59
Physical resilience5096th of 6,709 published ZIP areas31
AccessTop 25% of 6,791 published ZIP areas97
Economic stabilityTop 36% of 6,742 published ZIP areas67
The quick read

Residential permitting has slowed: 13 units authorized over the past twelve months, 58% below the prior year.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hail, wildfire and tornado.

A major airport is 15 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
43,811
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$118,039
Top 10% nationally
Density
893/sq mi
49.1 sq mi of land
Median age
38.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Golden
Colorado
Metro area
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
Nearest major airport
BJC
15 mi · Rocky Mountain Metro
Median home value
$804,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.7% is lower than 78% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 2.9% over the past year, to 316,293 employed residents.

58% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 92% of measured US ZIP areas.

Household income is higher than at least 90% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$6,954$118,039Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,925$65,009Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate9.0%Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.8 minBottom 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher58.2%Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment316,293Top 16%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-3.5%Bottom 8%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.9%Bottom 10%June 2026
Labor force328,300Top 16%June 2026
Labor force participation65.2%Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$81,690Top 15%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$62,320Top 10%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.1%Bottom 45%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.7%Bottom 22%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024118k105k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $118,039 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Golden, CO, the city containing this ZIP code.

There are 18.3 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
12
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
Reading proficiency
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Golden High SchoolJefferson County School District No. R-11,46921.6
Bell Middle SchoolJefferson County School District No. R-177419.4
Golden View Classical Academy · charterState Charter School Institute73717.5
Manning Options SchoolJefferson County School District No. R-168521.4
Kyffin Elementary SchoolJefferson County School District No. R-150318.0
Shelton Elementary SchoolJefferson County School District No. R-139414.6
Maple Grove Elementary SchoolJefferson County School District No. R-139017.0
Free Horizon MontessoriJefferson County School District No. R-138219.1
Welchester Elementary SchoolJefferson County School District No. R-129315.4
Ralston Elementary SchoolJefferson County School District No. R-128918.1
Connections Learning Center on the Earle Johnson CampusJefferson County School District No. R-1222.4
Lookout MountainDivision of Youth Services0

22.9% 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 $1,939 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 6.8 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
19.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,939
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$804,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income6.82Top 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate64.8%Bottom 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±57618,142Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$80$1,939Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$30,683$804,500Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income19.7%Top 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.5%Bottom 20%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
15/ 100
Ranks 5191 of 5,428 published city profiles

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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
13
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.6
Bottom 18% nationally
Year over year
−58%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Golden, CO, the city containing this ZIP code.

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.

Air quality measures a median index of 50, in the Good band, and about 37 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-STAPLETON, 19.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index101.02024 calendar year
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
Days above AQI 100372024 calendar year
Median air quality index50.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing43°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
50
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
101
90th percentile index
Days above 100
37
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

31 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HailHigh
WildfireHigh
TornadoElevated
AvalancheModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Jefferson County records 1.7 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 13.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 22.9 per 100,000 residents in Jefferson County.

Homicide
1.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
22.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
19.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

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 Jefferson 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 80401 rather than 80401 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
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

10 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 15 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rocky Mountain MetroBJC15 mi9,000 ft
CentennialAPA23 mi10,001 ft
Denver IntlDEN31 mi16,000 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
50
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)
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)
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.

80401 vs Golden

How this ZIP area compares with Golden as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

80401
Golden
Median household income
$118,039
vs
$98,582
Per capita income
$65,009
vs
$56,368
Population density
893/sq mi
vs
2,118/sq mi
Median home value
$804,500
vs
$837,700
Median gross rent
$1,939
vs
$1,953
Homeownership rate
64.8%
vs
56.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher
58.2%
vs
59.1%
Poverty rate
9.0%
vs
12.6%
Median age
38.8
vs
34.6

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.