The 10 Best Denver Suburbs To Live In For 2024


The best Denver suburbs are Castle Pines and Castle Pines for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

While big cities like Denver offer culture, cuisine, and charisma, they also deliver terrible traffic, towering expenses, and a taxing quality of life.

With that in mind, we wanted to uncover the best suburbs around Denver. These burbs have all of the benefits of being near Denver without actually having to be in the city.

Of course, not all suburbs of Denver are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. Using Saturday Night Science, we delve into the factors that matter most, from commutes and housing costs to community vibes, to help you uncover the perfect suburban spots in the Greater Denver area.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


What’s the best suburb of Denver? Castle Pines ranks as the best suburb of Denver for 2024 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Castle Pines, you’re probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.

We’ll tell you what makes each of these 10 Denver ‘burbs better than the rest–but first, a bit about our methodology.

Feel free to check out some more reading about Colorado:

The 10 Best Denver Suburbs To Live For 2024

Castle Pines, CO

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 11,811
Median Income: $189,280
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 4.5%
More on Castle Pines: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Castle Pines is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Denver area. We’ll tell you the good about “Awesome Castle Pines.”

Everyone here is rich; families average $189,280 a year, which is the highest in the Denver region. And only 3.6% are out of work. Homes average more than $863,001 each.

Castle Pines, CO

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 11,811
Median Income: $189,280
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 4.5%
More on Castle Pines: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Castle Pines is the second best ‘burb we looked at near Denver for 2024.

It ranks 1st for incomes in the area and only 3.33% of residents lack insurance, good for 4th best.

Castle Pines, CO

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 11,811
Median Income: $189,280
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 4.5%
More on Castle Pines: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Here in Castle Pines, it’s really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you’ll see in the Denver metro area.

The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.

But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Castle Pines.

Castle Pines, CO

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 11,811
Median Income: $189,280
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 4.5%
More on Castle Pines: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Castle Pines ranks as the 4th best suburb of Denver for 2024.

You won’t find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Castle Pines and the schools are some of the best around.

Louisville, CO

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 20,920
Median Income: $135,840
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%
Poverty Rate: 5.4%
More on Louisville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Coming in as the fifth best is Louisville.

Louisville gets kudos for having the 6th most expensive homes in the Denver area, where houses sell for an average of $821,232. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.

Superior, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Pleiades Two | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 13,146
Median Income: $149,464
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 2.2%
More on Superior: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Superior is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here’s why.

Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 3.33%.

According to online reports, Superior is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Denver area, meaning you need to get in soon.

Centennial, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 107,702
Median Income: $124,617
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%
Poverty Rate: 3.1%
More on Centennial: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Centennial.

Centennial schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.

And, it’s only 11.8 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.

Parker, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 58,733
Median Income: $126,615
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%
Poverty Rate: 3.4%
More on Parker: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Parker is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.

A solid 4.3% of people lack insurance, good for 10th in the area.

Review Of Parker by HomeSnacks User

I had to go to Parker to buy a peacock who was losing his mini-farm to development. Oh my G*d you do not want to live in Parker. Just the road rage and crowding alone flunks Parker.

Erie, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Bahooka | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 30,447
Median Income: $154,509
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%
Poverty Rate: 3.2%
More on Erie: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Is ‘Everything Better In Erie?’

Almost.

It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it’s really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.

Lone Tree, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 13,993
Median Income: $121,066
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%
Poverty Rate: 4.3%
More on Lone Tree: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

And rounding out the top ten for 2024 is Lone Tree.

This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It’s far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.

Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Denver for 2024

Figuring out the best suburbs around Denver was simple. We used Saturday Night Science to find things people like about living in the suburbs and then locate the suburbs with those things.

We analyzed the newest American Community Survey data for 2018-2022 to research each suburb. We decided upon the following criteria:

  • Low unemployment rate
  • High median household incomes
  • Population density (lots of things to do)
  • High home values
  • A lot of college-educated people
  • Low poverty
  • High rate of insured families

We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Denver.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 37 suburbs to evaluate around Denver.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 37 in each category, where 1 was the “best.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.

Finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index, the “Best Suburb near Denver.” We’re lookin’ at you, Castle Pines.

This result may differ from our state-wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a more extensive selection of suburbs.

We updated the data for 2024. This report is our tenth time ranking the best Denver suburbs. Skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.

Summary: Welcome to the Best Denver ‘Burbs of 2024

We said it once, and we’ll say it again–life in the big city isn’t for everyone. At least not all the time.

The best suburbs of Denver are .

So if you’re craving the amenities of a larger city like Denver but don’t want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might be for you.

For more Colorado reading, check out:

Table: Best Denver Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Average Home Price
1 Castle Pines, CO 11,811 $189,280 $863,001
2 Castle Pines, CO 11,811 $189,280 $863,001
3 Castle Pines, CO 11,811 $189,280 $863,001
4 Castle Pines, CO 11,811 $189,280 $863,001
5 Louisville, CO 20,920 $135,840 $821,232
6 Superior, CO 13,146 $149,464 $827,554
7 Centennial, CO 107,702 $124,617 $630,996
8 Parker, CO 58,733 $126,615 $684,096
9 Erie, CO 30,447 $154,509 $727,737
10 Lone Tree, CO 13,993 $121,066 $927,299
11 Frederick, CO 15,037 $128,078 $545,237
12 Lafayette, CO 30,295 $105,819 $684,062
13 Arvada, CO 123,066 $106,014 $594,157
14 Broomfield, CO 73,946 $117,541 $637,472
15 Castle Rock, CO 74,065 $135,985 $655,932
16 Golden, CO 20,461 $90,990 $820,716
17 Littleton, CO 45,531 $90,273 $674,009
18 Boulder, CO 106,598 $80,243 $974,246
19 Firestone, CO 16,704 $106,960 $562,511
20 Westminster, CO 115,502 $90,651 $521,670
21 Dacono, CO 6,260 $94,783 $483,988
22 Lakewood, CO 156,149 $82,786 $560,048
23 Englewood, CO 33,634 $79,375 $522,702
24 Thornton, CO 141,799 $95,064 $512,505
25 Lochbuie, CO 7,963 $84,556 $457,546
26 Edgewater, CO 5,002 $71,964 $592,807
27 Glendale, CO 4,580 $63,143 $366,045
28 Wheat Ridge, CO 32,263 $79,567 $594,883
29 Northglenn, CO 37,948 $77,797 $459,707
30 Bennett, CO 3,299 $82,035 $427,950
31 Brighton, CO 40,569 $86,975 $497,256
32 Hudson, CO 2,167 $73,542 $672,979
33 Federal Heights, CO 14,173 $56,316 $401,479
34 Aurora, CO 387,349 $78,685 $472,149
35 Commerce, CO 7,391 $58,763 $296,250
36 Sheridan, CO 6,062 $53,707 $424,232
37 Fort Lupton, CO 8,164 $71,293 $451,653
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.