Counties / Colorado / Adams County

Adams County, CO

FIPS 08001 · population 530,225 · part of Denver, CO

$486k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$486k
▼ 3.5% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,856
▼ 1.4% year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
4.6%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$2,089
market rent is 0.89x the standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+35.1%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−3.5%FHFA HPI2025−1.1%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$484k
Surveyed gross rent$1,781
Rent burden 30%+57.4%
Median year built1991
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
3.6%vacant
195,793estimated housing units
Occupied tenure31.4% renter
owner 68.6%renter 31.4%
Structure mix71.0% single-family
Single-family 71.0%20+ units 9.0%Mobile home 5.5%Other 14.5%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs249,644▲ 0.1% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments14,233annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,451▲ 2.2% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities33.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.1%WEEKLY WAGE+2.2%Trade, transportation, and utilities33.5%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Adams County is a cautious income case, not a clean appreciation case. Zillow's 2026-06 county median home value was $486,462, down 3.47% year over year; median asking rent was $1,856 per month, down 1.40%, producing a supplied gross yield of 4.58% before operating costs. That tension merits investigation by an investor seeking current income who can verify expenses, insurance, and condition, and cautions anyone underwriting a quick price rebound.

02Housing economics

Market rent is measured asking rent. HUD's two-bedroom FMR is $2,089, and market rent is 88.80% of that standard; FMR is a payment standard, not asking-rent evidence. FHFA's repeat-transaction HPI fell 1.05% in its 2025 observation, while its cumulative five-year change was 35.10%. That is a separate vintage and method from Zillow, not a home value and not a blended growth rate. The effective property-tax rate is 0.61%. Gross yield therefore is not net yield: insurance, repairs, vacancy, management, financing, and assessment details are not published.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com's 2026-06 MLS evidence shows active listings, median marketing time of 46 days, and price reductions on 28.29% of listings. These measure visible supply, marketing time, and seller concessions, not closed-sale prices or buyer demand by themselves. QCEW's 2025 county record shows covered employment was nearly flat while average weekly wage growth was 2.18%; Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Net migration was positive, but average AGI was higher for out-movers than in-movers, tempering the headline inflow.

04Risk & next checks

Hail is the dominant unresolved hazard. The modeled annual building-value loss ratio is 0.11%, but no property-level roof age, claims history, deductible, premium, mitigation, or insurer availability is supplied, so the model cannot set an actual reserve. Investor mortgages represented 4.66% of 7,890 purchase mortgages, a limited measured competition signal that excludes cash buyers and other transactions. Missing vacancy, operating expenses, financing terms, rent distribution, lease data, subcounty variation, and closed sales prevent conclusions about net cash flow, coverage, and liquidity.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Adams County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Aurora city*394.4KThornton city*144.2KArvada city*122.6KWestminster city*115.5KCommerce City city66.4KBrighton city*42.1KNorthglenn city*38KSherrelwood CDP18.7K
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

20 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Aurora cityIncorporated place · spans 3 counties
    394,432
  2. 02
    Thornton cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    144,187
  3. 03
    Arvada cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    122,634
  4. 04
    Westminster cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    115,484
  5. 05
    Commerce City cityIncorporated place
    66,445
  6. 06
    Brighton cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    42,059
  7. 07
    Northglenn cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    38,014
  8. 08
    Sherrelwood CDPCensus-designated place
    18,692
  9. 09
    Welby CDPCensus-designated place
    16,197
  10. 10
    Federal Heights cityIncorporated place
    14,125
  11. 11
    Berkley CDPCensus-designated place
    10,789
  12. 12
    Lochbuie townIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    8,609
Show 8 more places
  1. 13
    Derby CDPCensus-designated place
    8,453
  2. 14
    Twin Lakes CDP (Adams County)Census place
    8,030
  3. 15
    Shaw Heights CDPCensus-designated place
    5,565
  4. 16
    Todd Creek CDPCensus-designated place
    5,379
  5. 17
    Bennett townIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    3,663
  6. 18
    Strasburg CDPCensus-designated place · spans 2 counties
    3,455
  7. 19
    Watkins CDPCensus-designated place · spans 2 counties
    847
  8. 20
    North Washington CDPCensus-designated place
    294

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardhail

0.113% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.61%

$2,962 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+1,509

23,555 in · 22,046 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$5,770

$64,017 arriving · $69,787 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors4.7%

368 of 7,890 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings1,755▲ 2.1% year over year
Median days on market46▲ 2.2% year over year
Listings price-reduced28.3%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 3.8% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

Same metro

The other counties in Denver, CO

A metro is an average of these. Which side of a county line a property sits on can change the tax bill, the hazard profile and the tenant pool.

CountyPopulationPriceRentYieldHazard
Adams County530,225$486k$1,8564.6%hail
Denver County718,877$546k$1,8894.2%inland flooding
Arapahoe County659,844$516k$1,8214.2%hail
Jefferson County579,377$629k$1,9813.8%inland flooding
Douglas County377,150$712k$2,3063.9%inland flooding
Broomfield County76,304$629k$2,0353.9%inland flooding
Elbert County27,874$686kn/an/ainland flooding
Park County17,907$527k$2,6436.0%wildfire
Clear Creek County9,262$565k$2,1464.6%inland flooding
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Softening asking rent and prices, combined with unpublished operating expenses, could leave the gross yield inadequate after costs.
  2. Hail losses, insurance pricing, deductibles, roof condition, or claims history could make carrying costs differ materially from the modeled county ratio.
  3. Nearly flat covered employment, higher average AGI among out-movers, and concentration in the largest disclosed industry could weaken tenant or resale demand.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

What rent should underwriting use?

Use the published median market asking rent; HUD FMR is a separate payment standard and should not substitute for market rent.

Can the supplied gross yield be treated as net yield?

No. It is before operating costs, and the record does not publish the expenses needed to calculate net yield.

Does the climate loss ratio determine the property's insurance reserve?

No. It is a county-level modeled building-value loss measure; property-level insurance, claims, deductibles, and mitigation information are not supplied.