Westminster, Colorado

Area Profile

115,484 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Westminster, in Adams County.

61out of 100
Area Score
Top 49% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity2196th of 3,904 published cities53
Growth1543rd of 2,973 published cities49
Housing affordability3058th of 4,223 published cities65
Climate3739th of 4,223 published cities59
Physical resilienceTop 47% of 4,182 published cities62
AccessTop 1% of 4,226 published cities100
Economic stabilityTop 16% of 4,226 published cities75
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.8% and median household income $100,272, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.

Rent takes 23% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 5.3 times that income.

A major airport is 4 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
115,484
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$100,272
Top 19% nationally
Density
3,652/sq mi
31.6 sq mi of land
Median age
37.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Adams County
Colorado
Metro area
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
Nearest major airport
BJC
4 mi · Rocky Mountain Metro
Median home value
$532,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.8% is lower than 70% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.9% over the past year, to 65,908 employed residents.

45% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 85% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,946$100,272Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,747$53,904Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate7.3%Bottom 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute29.0 minTop 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher44.6%Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment65,908Top 45%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-3.6%Bottom 8%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.9%Bottom 11%June 2026
Labor force68,497Top 45%June 2026
Labor force participation72.9%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$81,690Top 18%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$62,320Top 11%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.1%Bottom 41%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.8%Bottom 30%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.12.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.8% 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
2021202220232024100k80k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $100,272 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 18.0 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
29
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
Reading proficiency
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Westminster High SchoolWestminster Public Schools2,01023.6
Academy of Charter Schools · charterState Charter School Institute1,88718.9
Mountain Range High SchoolAdams 12 Five Star Schools1,78820.8
Standley Lake High SchoolJefferson County School District No. R-11,12319.7
Silver Hills Middle SchoolAdams 12 Five Star Schools96518.2
Global Village Academy - North · charterState Charter School Institute83815.2
Jefferson Academy Elementary · charterJefferson County School District No. R-173716.0
Woodrow Wilson Charter Academy · charterJefferson County School District No. R-151816.2
Arapahoe Ridge Elementary SchoolAdams 12 Five Star Schools46517.9
Crown Pointe Charter Academy · charterState Charter School Institute46117.7
Cotton Creek Elementary SchoolAdams 12 Five Star Schools45515.2
Sunset Ridge PK-8Westminster Public Schools44921.4

55.3% 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 $1,882 takes 23% 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
22.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,882
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$532,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.31Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate61.9%Bottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±79150,471Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$37$1,882Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,955$532,400Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.5%Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.7%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
49/ 100
Ranks 1543 of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 3 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 fallen 1% since 2020, reaching 115,302 in 2024.

Permit activity has risen for 3 consecutive years.

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

At 2.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
268
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.3
Top 50% nationally
Year over year
+38%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024117k115k
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
20202021202220232024202569021
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−75%).

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 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-STAPLETON, 13.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index93.02024 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 100222024 calendar year
Median air quality index55.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing43°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

62 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HailHigh
TornadoModerate
WildfireModerate

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

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.

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 · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
26.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
19.7
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 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 Westminster rather than Westminster 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 4 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rocky Mountain MetroBJC4 mi9,000 ft
Denver IntlDEN21 mi16,000 ft
CentennialAPA24 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
61
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Other cities in Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
DenverDenver County718,87757vs Westminster
AuroraArapahoe County394,43258vs Westminster
LakewoodJefferson County156,58347vs Westminster
ThorntonAdams County144,18761vs Westminster
ArvadaJefferson County122,63455vs Westminster
CentennialArapahoe County108,20164vs Westminster
Highlands RanchDouglas County102,257vs Westminster
Castle RockDouglas County79,12365vs Westminster
BroomfieldBroomfield County76,30464vs Westminster
Commerce CityAdams County66,44567vs Westminster
ParkerDouglas County61,78367vs Westminster
LittletonArapahoe County44,71059vs Westminster

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.

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.

ZIP codes in Westminster

4 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
8002136,555$110,03859
8003135,584$107,42262
8023429,356$92,56361
8003015,427$61,09255