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Colorado›Adams County

Shaw HeightsCO

A town of 5,565.

Is Shaw Heights a good place to live?

Shaw Heights grades C− overall, 134th among Colorado's 158 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 80% of U.S. towns. On the other side, its public schools trail 89% of Colorado towns on state tests and graduation. On the outdoors, just 11 of Colorado’s 218 towns do worse.

What makes Shaw Heights stand out

Where Shaw Heights beats most towns.

A commuter town

99% of working residents leave Shaw Heights for work

Where Shaw Heights’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.

24% → Denver Denver 24% 10% → Westminster Westminster 10% 5% → Boulder Boulder 5% 5% → Thornton Thornton 5% 5% → Lakewood Lakewood 5% 5% → Aurora Aurora 5% Shaw Heights · 1% stay
1,514jobs based in Shaw Heights
1%of working residents work in town
9 mimedian commute distance

Census LEHD 2023

How Shaw Heights grades

Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Colorado), ordered by how far Shaw Heights is from typical.

How grading works
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.

How TownRatings grades towns →

Nearby attractions

Empower Field at Mile High and 62 more within 40 miles

Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Shaw Heights. Close and well known come first.

All 75 attractions →
Sources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits

Empower Field at Mile High: Thelastcanadian, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Red Rocks Amphitheatre: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ball Arena: KM Newnham, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Coors Field: Matt Kozlowski, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dick's Sporting Goods Park: Tom Pratt, CC BY 2.0 · Elitch Gardens Theme Park: USGS, Public domain

Getting set up

Moving to Shaw Heights: who provides what

Shaw Heights is unincorporated, so Adams County and regional agencies provide most services.

PowerXcel Energy15.9¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterCity of Westminster water systemNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet7 providers100% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesAdams CountyAdams County provides services here
SchoolsWestminster Public School DistrictWhich school depends on your addressNCES
Register to voteOnlineIn Colorado you can register online until 8 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 8 days before).vote.gov
Who runs elections hereAdams County Clerk and RecorderAdams County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Sep 2025
ZIP codes80031, 8026080031 98% · 80260 2%Census 2020

EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.

The data

Ordered by what stands out in Shaw Heights.

Shaw Heights is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Colorado; it also has little public open land and has many renters stretched by housing costs.

SchoolsD

Shaw Heights earns a D for schools

Its public schools are run by the Westminster Public Schools. One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.

11%of CO districts it outscoresDSchool Grade
SchoolLevelStudentsLetter
John E. Flynn A Marzano AcademyLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8Grades PK–8354D

NCES · EDFacts · graded within CO on state tests and graduation

Work & commuteJobs & income grade B

Shaw Heights has 0.7 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out

Most working residents leave Shaw Heights for work: only 1% work in town. 23% of Shaw Heights workers work from home, against 18% in Colorado’s towns and 11% across U.S. towns. Shaw Heights’ average trip to work is 29 minutes.

1%work in town
Shaw HeightsColorado townsU.S. towns
Work from home23%18%11%
Average trip to work29 minutes25 minutes25 minutes
Working residents who work in town0.7%7.8%8%
Below the poverty line12%8.4%9.6%

Where working residents work

In Shaw Heights1%
Denver24%
Westminster10%
Boulder5%
Thornton5%
9 mi
median commute distance
1,514
jobs based in Shaw Heights
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
A−
Walkability grade: more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns

Census LEHD 2023 · ACS

Natural hazardsHazard risk grade B+

Shaw Heights faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by hail

Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 69% of U.S. communities.

31risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
31Low riskLowerHigher
HailCold wavesInland flooding

FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA

HealthB+

Residents of Shaw Heights are healthier than 66% of U.S. towns

Within Colorado it is less healthy than 74% of the 159 graded towns: Colorado sets a high bar.

Shaw Heights beats the Colorado average on 1 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 17% of Shaw Heights adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance, above both Colorado’s towns (10%) and U.S. towns (8.1%). 71% of Shaw Heights adults had a checkup this year.

66%healthier than U.S. townsB+Health Grade
Shaw HeightsColorado townsU.S. towns
No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES)17%10%8.1%
Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES)71%71%79%
Obesity (CDC PLACES)32%26%35%
Depression (CDC PLACES)21%23%23%
26 measures vs. Colorado
1 better16 too close to call9 worse
What stands outShaw HeightsCO
Fewer binge drinkers16.2%19%
More uninsured adults17.1%11.1%
HCA Healthone Mountain Ridge
2.9 mi away · emergency room
1 of 3
care shortages: mental health
26th
percentile among CO towns

CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA

Climate

In Shaw Heights, expect snowy winters and hot summers

Shaw Heights has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 20° and about 55 inches of snow falls in a winter.

55″snow a winter

Typical low → high °F

Winter20–47°
Spring36–63°
Summer56–86°
Fall37–66°
Oct 11
typical first frost
May 2
typical last frost
+1.5°
vs. the 20th-century average

NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020

OutdoorsC−

1.3% of Shaw Heights is conserved land

Just 6 of its 433 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Shaw Heights itself; its outdoors grade is C−.

0.0 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.

1.3%conserved
1.3%
conserved · 6 of 433 acres
0.0 mi
of trails · 0 per sq mi
Biggest places to walkTrailsAcres
1. Rotary Park—5

Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US

HousingCost of living grade C−

Homes in Shaw Heights sell for about $539K

80.8% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 52.9% across Colorado.

The median rent in Shaw Heights is $2,125 a month.

$539Kmedian sale price
Shaw HeightsColorado townsU.S. towns
Median rent$2,125 a month$1,807 a month$1,185 a month
Households that own their home82%71%73%
Market temperature
Seller’s marketA strong seller's marketBuyer’sSeller’s
14
days on market
100.2%
sale-to-list price
8
homes sold in May

Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center

Keep exploring

Everything we know about Shaw Heights

16pages on Shaw Heights
After high school

Colleges nearby

15 within 15 miles of the center of Shaw Heights

About Shaw Heights

Census-designated place in Adams County, CO, USA

Shaw Heights is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Adams County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of the Shaw Heights CDP was 5,185 at the United States Census 2020. The Westminster post office (Zip code 80031) serves the area.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)

Area
0.7 sq mi

Shaw Heights’s neighbors

One town shares a border with Shaw Heights.

Explore the map →
How the neighbors grade
TownCO rankOverallCostSafetySchoolsHealth
Shaw Heights#134C−C−—DB+
Westminster#76BCDA−A

Shaw Heights reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Shaw Heights with a neighbor →

Questions about Shaw Heights

Short answers, built from the data on this page.

Is Shaw Heights, CO a good place to live?

Shaw Heights grades C− overall, better than 24% of U.S. towns and #134 of 158 in Colorado. It grades B+ for health and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.

Is Shaw Heights, CO expensive?

Yes. The typical home is worth about $483,000, 9% below the Colorado typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.