County profile

Boulder County / Boulder, CO

Reading this county

Boulder County has a research university, a federal-lab cluster, the Front Range foothills and about 330,000 residents. One of those labs keeps the nation's primary frequency standard, the cesium fountain atomic clock at NIST in Boulder. The county is highly educated, unusually healthy, and closer to serious mountains than almost anywhere with a comparable job market. Housing costs are big-city while salaries are mid-size-county.

Educational Attainment: 40%: Two adults in five hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Only four counties in the country measure higher. The local job market is the likely reason. >99% of 3,143 counties
Obesity Rate: 17%¹: A 17% obesity rate, lower than all 3,142 other counties. Several towns here make water or unsweetened milk the default drink with an advertised children's meal, so a parent gets it without asking. <99% of 3,143 counties
Hiking: 395: 395 mapped hiking trails, a count only 14 counties beat. The mountains are not a weekend drive from here; the trailheads start at the edge of town. >99% of 3,143 counties
Bike Score: 86: A Bike Score of 86 in the city of Boulder, and only 15 counties score higher. The county scores every road for how stressful it feels to ride, so a rider can check one specific street before signing a lease. >99% of 2,726 counties
The trade-off — Median Home Price: $788K⁴: The median home is $788K against a typical household income of $97K, a ratio of roughly eight to one. A buyer arriving without Front Range equity has to solve housing affordability before anything else about the move. >98% of 3,143 counties

Bicycling is so highly regarded in Boulder (seven out of 10 Boulderites own bicycles) that sometimes the city plows the Boulder Creek bike path before they plow the streets!

Demographics and county data

Each comparison is against the US counties that publish the same measurement. Measurements where too many counties share a single value to be ranked show no comparison at all.

Abortion Regulation: Legal (Unlimited)
ACT/SAT Scores: #17
Air Quality: 6.9¹
Alcohol Regulation: #37
All Occupations: $88K¹
American Indians/Alaskan Natives: ↓-1.5%
Amish, Mennonites, etc: ↓-1.1%⁷
Any Airport: 0h 47m
Any Natural Disaster: Low³
Architecture & Engineering: $103K¹⁰
Art Museums: 4
Arts, Design, Sports, Media & Entertainment: $72K¹⁰
Asian Americans: ↑3.4%
Asian Language Speakers: ↑2.0%
Avalanche: Low³
Average School Rating: 69.2⁶
Beergardens & Brewpubs: 29
Bike Score: 86
Blacks/African Americans: ↓-8.1%
Boating: 41
Broadband Internet: 91%
Buddhists: ↑0.4%⁷
Building & Grounds Cleaning & Maintenance: $40K¹⁰
Business & Financial Operations: $88K¹⁰
Cannabis Regulation: Legal
Cat Friendly Rentals: 53%
Catholics: ↑6.6%⁷
City Population: 108K
Climate Change Risk: 3.0
Coastal Flooding: none³
Cold Wave: Low³
Community & Social Service: $57K¹⁰
Commute Time: 24
Computer & Mathematical: $117K¹⁰
Construction & Extraction: $57K¹⁰
County Population: 330K
Cuisine Diversity: 51
Cycling: 41
Dentists: 10.6
Dog Friendly Rentals: 67%
Drought: Very Low³
Earthquakes: Very Low³
Education, Training, & Library: $58K¹⁰
Educational Attainment: 40%
Elevation: 5,863'⁸
English Speakers: ↓-1.0%
Farmers Markets: 6
Farming, Fishing, & Forestry: $41K¹⁰
Fatal Dog Attacks: 0
Fatal Wildlife Attacks: 0
Financial Relocation Incentives: $8,000
Fire Ants: none
Fishing: 189
Food Preparation & Serving Related: $37K¹⁰
Forests: 50%
Freshwater Access: 230
Gluten-Free Options: 19
Golf: 41
Gun Open Carry Regulation: Legal (Unrestricted)
Hail: Low³
Healthcare Practitioners & Technical: $100K¹⁰
Healthcare Support: $40K¹⁰
Heat Wave: none³
High School Graduation Rate: 89%¹
Hiking: 395
Hindus: ↑0.1%⁷
Hispanics/Latinos: ↑4.2%
History Museums: 7
Home Ownership Rate: 62%
Homelessness: 171
Homicide Rate: 1¹
Hospitals: 5
Hurricanes: none³
Ice Storms: Very Low³
Indo-European Language Speakers: ↑2.0%
Installation, Maintenance, & Repair: $60K¹⁰
Investment Potential: 19 / 100
Jehovah's Witnesses: ↓-0.5%⁷
Jews: ↑0.5%⁷
Landslide: Very Low³
LDS / Mormons: ↑0.7%⁷
Legal: $131K¹⁰
Life Expectancy: 83¹
Life, Physical, & Social Science: $88K¹⁰
Lightning: Low³
Live Music: 44
Major Airport: 0h 47m
Major City Proximity: 0h 36m
Major League Baseball: 0h 32m
Major League Soccer: 0h 35m
Management: $149K¹⁰
Median Age: 37 years¹¹
Median Home Price: $788K
Median Rental - 1 BR Apartment: $1,830
Median Rental - 2 BR Apartment: $2,214
Median Rental - 3 BR Apartment: $2,908
Median Rental - 4 BR Apartment: $3,325
Median Rental - Room: $1,136
Median Rental - Single Family Home: $2,923⁴
Median Rental - Studio Apartment: $1,576
Mental Health Providers: 74.1
Meth Labs: 0
Michelin Rated Restaurants: none
Minor League Baseball: 7h 32m
Mountains: 9,265'⁸
Multiracials: ↑0.4%
Muslims: ↓-0.1%⁷
National Parks: 1h 10m
Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders: 0.0%
NBA Basketball: 0h 34m
NFL Football: 0h 35m
NHL Hockey: 0h 34m
Not Religious / Atheists / Agnostics: ↑22.0%
Nuclear Strike: Direct Target
Obesity Rate: 14%
Office & Administrative Support: $49K¹⁰
Orthodox Christians: ↑0.3%⁷
Other Language Speakers: ↓-0.1%
Other Relocation Incentives: none
Park Score: 93%⁹
People 0-9 Years Old: ↓-1.9%
People 10-19 Years Old: ↑0.8%
People 20-29 Years Old: ↑5.7%
People 30-39 Years Old: ↑1.2%
People 40-49 Years Old: ↑1.1%
People 50-59 Years Old: ↓-1.0%
People 60-69 Years Old: ↓-1.8%
People 70-79 Years Old: ↓-2.4%
People 80+ Years Old: ↓-1.6%
Performing Arts: 1
Personal Care & Service: $42K¹⁰
Political Orientation: 85% Dems
Population Density: 455
Population Growth: ↓-0.4%
Poverty Rate: 9.5%
Primary Care Physicians: 12.0¹
Private/Home School Regulation: #19
Production: $48K¹⁰
Property Crime Rate: 3,026
Property Tax: 0.55%
Protective Service: $58K¹⁰
Protestants / Non-Denominationals: ↓-18.1%⁷
Rain: 20"
Regional Theatre: 1
River Flooding: Medium³
Sales & Related: $61K¹⁰
Sales Tax: 8.9%
Same Sex Households: ↑0.2%
Scenic Beauty: #5
Seasons: 42 °F
Shark Attacks: 0
Single Parent Households: ↓-4.0%
Skiing: 0h 39m
Small or Major Airport: 0h 47m
Smokers: 13%¹
Snow: 99"
Spanish Speakers: ↑2.2%
State Income Tax: 4.6%
Strong Wind: Low³
Summer Heat: 80 °F
Summer Mugginess: none
Sunny Days: 245
Termite Infestation: Light
Tobacco Regulation: #14
Top School Rating: 96.2⁶
Tornadoes: Low³
Traffic: 866K
Transit Score: 47
Transportation & Material Moving: $49K¹⁰
Tsunami: none³
Typical Expenses: $114K⁵
Typical Expenses: $105K⁵
Typical Expenses: $90K⁵
Typical Expenses: $175K⁵
Typical Expenses: $55K⁵
Typical Expenses: $112K⁵
Typical Expenses: $75K⁵
Typical Expenses: $177K⁵
Typical Expenses: $146K⁵
Typical Expenses: $101K⁵
Typical Expenses: $136K⁵
Typical Expenses: $75K⁵
Unemployment Rate: 6.2%¹
Vegetarian Friendliness: 25
Violent Crime Rate: 242²
Volcanic Activity: none³
Walk Score: 56
Water Quality: 2/4
Whites: ↑1.5%
Wildfires: Low³
Windiness: 22 mph
Wineries: 22
Winter Cold: 37 °F
Winter Weather: Low³

Cities

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