The book's checklist
- Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 5.8% above the U.S. average in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro area.
- More house for the moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Columbine Valley to say.
- A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Columbine Valley itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
- Schools in town3 public schools: 2 elementary and 1 middle. No public high school in town: the nearest is Heritage High School, about 2 miles away.
- A hospital close byAdventhealth Littleton in Littleton, about 3 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
- Within reach of a big cityDenver is about 14 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.
A check means Columbine Valley meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.
What kind of town
Columbine Valley runs into the built-up area around Denver (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.
Boom town. The population is up 12% since 2020. Growing fast, with rising home values. Watch for chain stores and big apartment complexes: the small-town feel may not last.
The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.
For a lifetime
Homes and money
- Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
- $1,578,900U.S.: $332,700
- Home prices since then
- Up 2.7%Arapahoe County, 2022 to 2025
- Typical household income
- $250,000 or moreU.S.: $80,734
- Homes owned by the people living in them
- 98%U.S.: 65%
- Typical property tax bill
- $9,517 a yearColorado: $2,602
- Homes built before 1940
- 1%U.S.: 12%
- Homes built since 2010
- 18%U.S.: 11%
- Vacation and seasonal homes
- 1%U.S.: 3%
- Everyday prices
- 105.8U.S. average = 100 (the Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro area)
Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 2.7% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro area, not Columbine Valley alone. Check current listings before you budget.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
The people
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 1,6842020: 1,502
- Median age
- 50.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
- Age 65 and older
- 31%U.S.: 17%
- Under 18
- 24%U.S.: 22%
- Moved here from another county or state in the past year
- 1%U.S.: 6%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Work
- Biggest lines of work
- Finance, insurance and real estate (24%); schools, health care and social services (17%)
- Unemployment rate
- 0%U.S.: 5%
- Average commute
- 24 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
- Below the poverty line
- 0%U.S.: 12%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Health care
Nearest emergency room: Adventhealth Littleton, Littleton, CO, about 3 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.
Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.
Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.
Schools
3 public schools in Columbine Valley, run by Littleton School District No. 6 in the county of Arapahoe. The nearest public high school is Heritage High School, about 2 miles away.
Colleges in or next to town: Arapahoe Community College (10,000 to 19,999 students); Denver Seminary (under 1,000 students).
See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Colorado's school report card.
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.
Internet
- Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
- 95%U.S.: 76%
- Homes with any internet subscription
- 98%U.S.: 91%
Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Weather
- January average low
- 19°F
- July average high
- 86°F
- Days 90°F or hotter
- 33 a year
- Nights at or below freezing
- 147 a year
- Rain and melted snow
- 16.6 inches a year
- Snow
- 34 inches a year
- Elevation
- 5,344 feet
Weather station: Marston Fltr Plt (2 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.
Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.
Getting around
Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Adventhealth Littleton, Lakewood, Denver.
Arapahoe County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).
For a day
National Park Service sites within about an hour:
- Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument47 miles
- Rocky Mountain National Park48 miles
Campus life. Check Arapahoe Community College's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.
Read about Columbine Valley's history on Wikipedia.
Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.
Nearby
Straight-line miles.
Small towns
- Sheridan, CO6,000 people, 3 miles
- Cherry Hills Village, CO6,400 people, 5 miles
- Greenwood Village, CO15,300 people, 6 miles
- Sterling Ranch, CO4,200 people, 7 miles
- Holly Hills, CO2,600 people, 7 miles
- Acres Green, CO2,600 people, 8 miles
Smaller places
- Bow Mar, CO832 people, 2 miles
- Louviers, CO (unincorporated)294 people, 8 miles
- Morrison, CO364 people, 10 miles
- East Pleasant View, CO (unincorporated)832 people, 11 miles
- Indian Hills, CO (unincorporated)986 people, 12 miles
- Grand View Estates, CO (unincorporated)567 people, 12 miles
- Mountain View, CO517 people, 12 miles
- Idledale, CO (unincorporated)297 people, 12 miles
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
- Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
- National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
- National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
- U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
- National Park Service, park unit boundaries
- USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas
Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.