Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 32,081, settled in 1859.
Wheat Ridge grades B− overall, 100th of 158 graded towns in Colorado, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Residents are healthier than 90% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and its public schools beat 78% of Colorado towns on state tests and graduation. On the other side, its crime rate is higher than 93% of U.S. towns, with 84 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Wheat Ridge’s property crime rate is 38.8 per 1,000 residents, above both Colorado’s towns (15.2) and U.S. towns (9.9). Wheat Ridge is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns. Wheat Ridge has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Pioneer Sod House and Tower of Memories.
Where Wheat Ridge beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Colorado), ordered by how far Wheat Ridge is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Its founding year, 1859, comes before those of 89% of the Colorado towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 21,619 in 1960, 32,398 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1937 and 6 maps from 1941 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Wheat Ridge. Close and well known come first.
Big draw9 mi TheatreRed Rocks Amphitheatre
Big draw5 mi Stadium & arenaEmpower Field at Mile High
5 mi Stadium & arenaBall Arena
6 mi Stadium & arenaCoors Field
5 mi Theme parkElitch Gardens Theme Park
2 mi Theme parkLakeside Amusement ParkRed Rocks Amphitheatre: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Empower Field at Mile High: Thelastcanadian, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ball Arena: KM Newnham, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Coors Field: Matt Kozlowski, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Elitch Gardens Theme Park: USGS, Public domain · Lakeside Amusement Park: Atjoe1972, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Wheat Ridge, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Wheat Ridge.
Wheat Ridge fares better on crime within Colorado than nationally and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Colorado; it also carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Colorado (mostly inland flooding).
At 58.7 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 81% of Colorado’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 1,574 to 1,321 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Wheat Ridge reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 93% report less. The violent crime rate in Wheat Ridge is 2.6 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Jefferson County School District No. R-1. Two of its 12 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prospect Valley Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 583 | A |
| Wheat Ridge High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 932 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CO on state tests and graduation
Within Colorado it is healthier than 53% of the 159 graded towns: Colorado sets a high bar.
24% of Wheat Ridge adults have obesity. Wheat Ridge beats the Colorado average on 2 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 16% of Wheat Ridge adults get no exercise outside work.
| Wheat Ridge | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 26% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 16% | 25% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 71% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| What stands out | Wheat Ridge | CO |
|---|---|---|
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 67.9% | 62.4% |
| More adults getting cholesterol checked | 86.8% | 85.2% |
| More adults with arthritis | 26.8% | 22.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
15 miles of trail in 15 parks and preserves. Wheat Ridge’s trail density is 1.6 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Prospect Park, at 47 acres.
| Wheat Ridge | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.6 miles per square mile | 1.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.5% | 7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Prospect Park | 0.8 mi | 47 |
| 2. Fairmount Park | 0.7 mi | 11 |
| 3. Lewis Meadows Park | 0.5 mi | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 86% of Colorado towns, with expected losses of about $546 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1978, 27 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Wheat Ridge.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Wheat Ridge has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 20° and about 76 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Wheat Ridge for work: only 6% work in town. Jobs based in Wheat Ridge grew to 19,751 in 2023, 3,318 more than in 2013. 22% of workers work from home in Wheat Ridge.
| Wheat Ridge | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 22% | 18% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Children under 18 are 15% of residents (21% statewide); people 65 and older are 21% of residents (16% statewide). 48% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 46% across Colorado.
| Wheat Ridge | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 15% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 48% | 44% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 15% | 18% |
| Median age | 41.9 years | 38.3 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2 points. Across Colorado, 49.3% of residents are women. Median age: women 43.6, men 39.5.
| Wheat Ridge | CO | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.8% | 10.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.5% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.9% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 18.3% | 15.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.1% | 14.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.4% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.5% | 11.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.2% | 9.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.4% | 5.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.8% | 7.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 20.2% | 19.7% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.9% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.3% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 31.7% | 28.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The typical value, about $582K, is 8% below its June 2022 peak.
The typical Wheat Ridge home is worth about $582,000, down 2.2% in a year, 10% above the Colorado typical home.
| Wheat Ridge | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,579 a month | $1,812 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 53% | 53% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
17 within 15 miles of the center of Wheat Ridge
About 5 of every 100 Wheat Ridge residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Colorado.
5 places in Wheat Ridge on the National Register of Historic Places.
19 notable people were born in Wheat Ridge.
City in Colorado, United States
The City of Wheat Ridge is a home rule municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Wheat Ridge is located immediately west of Denver and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Wheat Ridge Municipal Center is approximately 8.5 miles (14 km) west-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. The city had a population of 32,007, as of 2026 according to World Population Review.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Wheat Ridge.
| Town | CO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheat Ridge | #100 | B− | C | D | A− | A |
| Arvada | #64 | B+ | C− | C− | A− | A |
| Fairmount | #16 | A | C− | — | A− | A+ |
| Edgewater | #107 | C+ | C− | D− | A− | A |
| Lakewood | #97 | B− | C− | D− | A− | A |
| Applewood | #21 | A | C− | — | A− | A+ |
| Mountain View | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Fairmount and Applewood report no FBI crime data of their own. Mountain View isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Wheat Ridge with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Wheat Ridge grades B− overall, better than 50% of U.S. towns and #100 of 158 in Colorado. It grades A for health, D for safety and A− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 5.5 years of the area's median household income ($105,762 across the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
19 notable people were born here, including Matthew Dominick and Nick Stabile.
