AreaProfile

80033Wheat Ridge, Colorado

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 80033.

54
Area Score
Bottom 21% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity2269th of 4,073 published ZIP areas52
Growth2510th of 3,947 published ZIP areas42
Housing affordability3295th of 4,553 published ZIP areas60
Climate4083rd of 4,621 published ZIP areas59
Physical resilience3405th of 4,554 published ZIP areas31
AccessTop 1% of 4,623 published ZIP areas100
Economic stabilityTop 34% of 4,591 published ZIP areas68
The quick read

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 163 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 24% on the prior year.

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

A major airport is 9 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
26,485
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$89,627
Top 27% nationally
Density
3,176/sq mi
8.3 sq mi of land
Median age
42.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Wheat Ridge
Colorado
Metro area
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
Nearest major airport
BJC
9 mi · Rocky Mountain Metro
Median home value
$609,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.0% is lower than 72% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 2.9% over the past year, to 17,688 employed residents.

47% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 85% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$9,368$89,627Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$6,279$59,418Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate12.1%Top 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute25.1 minBottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher46.9%Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment17,688Bottom 14%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-3.3%Bottom 8%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.9%Bottom 10%June 2026
Labor force18,426Bottom 14%June 2026
Labor force participation70.9%Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$81,690Top 13%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$62,320Top 10%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.4%Bottom 24%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.0%Bottom 28%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202490k73k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $89,627 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 Wheat Ridge, CO, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,587 takes 21% 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
21.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,587
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$609,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income6.80Top 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate51.6%Bottom 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±64413,067Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$94$1,587Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,977$609,800Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income21.2%Top 29%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
42/ 100
Ranks 2510 of 3,947 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.

At 5.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
163
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.1
Top 30% nationally
Year over year
+24%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
58.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Wheat Ridge, 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.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DENVER-STAPLETON, 12.5 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

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.

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

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

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rocky Mountain MetroBJC9 mi9,000 ft
CentennialAPA20 mi10,001 ft
Denver IntlDEN24 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.

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Area Score
54
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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.

80033 vs Wheat Ridge

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

80033
Wheat Ridge
Median household income
$89,627
vs
$90,564
Per capita income
$59,418
vs
$60,248
Population density
3,176/sq mi
vs
3,432/sq mi
Median home value
$609,800
vs
$623,000
Median gross rent
$1,587
vs
$1,579
Homeownership rate
51.6%
vs
54.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher
46.9%
vs
47.8%
Poverty rate
12.1%
vs
11.2%
Median age
42.4
vs
41.9

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.