DenverNC
A town of 2,497, settled in 1874.
Is Denver a good place to live?
Denver’s best subject grades are an A for health and an A− for cost of living; its weakest is a C− for walkability. 12% of residents are 65 or older in Denver, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 18% and U.S. towns at 18%. The biggest park or preserve is Rock Springs Nature Preserve, at 116 acres. Denver has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Denver stand out
Where Denver beats most towns.
Denver has grown 17% from 2010 to 2020
2,309 counted in 2010 and 2,697 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Denver grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Denver is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Denver: who provides what
Denver is unincorporated, so Lincoln County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Denver.
Homes in Denver are worth about $555K, by Zillow’s estimate
The typical Denver home is worth about $555,000, down 0.6% in a year, 67% above the North Carolina typical home. 55% of Denver households own their home, below both North Carolina’s towns (67%) and U.S. towns (73%). Denver’s median rent is $869 a month.
| Denver | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $869 a month | $1,085 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
On state tests, Denver’s schools beat 66% of North Carolina districts
Its public schools are run by the Lincoln County Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock Springs ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 639 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
On CDC estimates, Denver is healthier than 86% of U.S. towns
Denver beats the North Carolina average on 12 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 31% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Denver.
| Denver | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 24% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Denver | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.9% | 15.2% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.2% | 8.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.4% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Low risk in Denver, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 70% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Four seasons and hot summers in Denver
Denver has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 29° and about 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in three of Denver’s working residents commute to Charlotte
Most working residents leave Denver for work: only 4% work in town. The average trip to work in Denver is 29 minutes. Jobs based in Denver grew to 1,956 in 2023, 645 more than in 2013.
| Denver | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.7% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Younger than North Carolina overall
People 65 and older are 12% of residents (17% statewide). 44% of Denver adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more.
| Denver | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 44% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 38.9 years | 40.1 years | 40.5 years |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
39% women, 61% men
About 157 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.1 points). Across North Carolina, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Denver | NC | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.2% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 5.2% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.2% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 22.5% | 13.4% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 6.7% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 21.3% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.2% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 3.6% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.5% | 9.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 38.9% | 24.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 4.8% | 19.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.1% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 41% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 2.6% | 13.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,500, single groups can be off by several points
| Denver | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rock Springs Nature Preserve | — | 116 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Denver
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Denver
About 5 of every 100 Denver residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
Questions about Denver
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Denver, NC expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.