Counties / Colorado / Arapahoe County

Arapahoe County, CO

FIPS 08005 · population 659,844 · part of Denver, CO

$516k
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
$516k
▼ 3.0% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,821
▼ 2.3% year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
4.2%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$2,089
market rent is 0.87x 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+36.0%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−3.0%FHFA HPI2025−0.1%
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$561k
Surveyed gross rent$1,891
Rent burden 30%+56.4%
Median year built1986
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
4.5%vacant
269,345estimated housing units
Occupied tenure35.3% renter
owner 64.7%renter 35.3%
Structure mix66.4% single-family
Single-family 66.4%20+ units 14.8%Mobile home 0.8%Other 18.1%
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 jobs340,875▲ 0.3% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments26,224annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,708▲ 3.7% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorProfessional and business services23.6% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.3%WEEKLY WAGE+3.7%Professional and business services23.6%
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

Arapahoe County’s tension is yield versus softening: investors able to verify expenses should investigate, while buyers relying on appreciation or quick resale should be cautious. Zillow’s 2026-06 county observation puts median home value at $516,233 and median asking rent at $1,821 monthly, down 3.03% and 2.28% year over year; supplied gross yield is 4.23% before costs. FHFA’s separate 2025 annual repeat-transaction HPI also edged down, though its reported five-year change was positive. It is not a home value and cannot be averaged with Zillow’s distinct-vintage value change.

02Housing economics

Market asking rent is measured rent; HUD’s $2,089 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate. Market rent is 87.20% of that standard, but FMR cannot substitute in a yield calculation. Gross yield excludes costs: the $2,938 median annual property tax and 0.52% effective rate are carrying-cost evidence, not net return. Hail is dominant; modeled annual climate loss of 0.14% of building value requires asset-specific insurance, roof, and deductible review, not a dollar-loss conversion.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS listing-market data show lower asking prices and fewer active listings, with marketing time at 45 days. The 27.99% price-reduced share and 39.50% pending-to-active ratio indicate concessions and visible pipeline; neither proves buyer demand or is a closed-sale price. Net out-migration coincides with higher average AGI among departing movers, requiring checks against target tenant and buyer cohorts. Investor mortgages were 6.78% of purchase mortgages, a minority share that excludes cash buyers. QCEW measures annual covered jobs at county workplaces, not residents; Professional and business services is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy.

04Risk & next checks

Key gaps prevent a property-level conclusion: property-level operating expenses, insurance quotes, vacancy, turnover, capital needs, financing terms, unit-type rent distribution, closed-sale comparables, and neighborhood supply are not published. Without them, an underwriter cannot determine net operating income, debt-service coverage, hail-related carrying exposure, achievable asset rent, or defensible exit value. Next checks are lease comps with concessions, insurance and roof history, and buyer composition by submarket.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Arapahoe 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*394.4KCentennial city108.2KLittleton city*44.7KEnglewood city34.1KColumbine CDP*25.5KFour Square Mile CDP23KGreenwood Village city15.4KCherry Creek CDP10.7K
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

26 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Aurora cityIncorporated place · spans 3 counties
    394,432
  2. 02
    Centennial cityIncorporated place
    108,201
  3. 03
    Littleton cityIncorporated place · spans 3 counties
    44,710
  4. 04
    Englewood cityIncorporated place
    34,129
  5. 05
    Columbine CDPCensus-designated place · spans 2 counties
    25,478
  6. 06
    Four Square Mile CDPCensus-designated place
    23,024
  7. 07
    Greenwood Village cityIncorporated place
    15,420
  8. 08
    Cherry Creek CDPCensus-designated place
    10,721
  9. 09
    Cherry Hills Village cityIncorporated place
    6,354
  10. 10
    Sheridan cityIncorporated place
    6,005
  11. 11
    Dove Valley CDPCensus-designated place
    4,806
  12. 12
    Glendale cityIncorporated place
    4,531
Show 14 more places
  1. 13
    Bennett townIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    3,663
  2. 14
    Strasburg CDPCensus-designated place · spans 2 counties
    3,455
  3. 15
    Inverness CDPCensus-designated place
    2,934
  4. 16
    Holly Hills CDPCensus-designated place
    2,572
  5. 17
    Columbine Valley townIncorporated place
    2,047
  6. 18
    Byers CDPCensus-designated place
    1,726
  7. 19
    Deer Trail townIncorporated place
    1,275
  8. 20
    Bow Mar townIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    1,047
  9. 21
    Aetna Estates CDPCensus-designated place
    1,010
  10. 22
    Watkins CDPCensus-designated place · spans 2 counties
    847
  11. 23
    Foxfield townIncorporated place
    659
  12. 24
    Comanche Creek CDPCensus-designated place
    283
  13. 25
    Brick Center CDPCensus-designated place
    105
  14. 26
    Peoria CDPCensus-designated place
    75

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

0.137% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.52%

$2,938 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-1,752

30,681 in · 32,433 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$10,710

$75,792 arriving · $86,502 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors6.8%

549 of 8,095 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 listings2,299▼ 10.6% year over year
Median days on market45▲ 0.0% year over year
Listings price-reduced28.0%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 4.9% 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
Arapahoe County659,844$516k$1,8214.2%hail
Denver County718,877$546k$1,8894.2%inland flooding
Jefferson County579,377$629k$1,9813.8%inland flooding
Adams County530,225$486k$1,8564.6%hail
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. Property-level costs, vacancy, and capital needs could reduce returns below the stated gross yield.
  2. Hail insurance availability, premiums, deductibles, or roof condition could materially change carrying costs.
  3. County-level migration and listing data may conceal stronger or weaker conditions in the target submarket.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is the reported rent a HUD payment standard?

No. The record separately identifies market rent as median monthly asking rent and HUD Fair Market Rent as a payment standard.

Do the Realtor.com figures establish a closed-sale price?

No. They are MLS listing-market measures of asking prices, visible listings, marketing time, price reductions, and pending listings.

What does the QCEW employment measure represent?

It represents annual average covered jobs located at workplaces in the county, not resident employment or unemployment.