Counties / Colorado / Boulder County

Boulder County, CO

FIPS 08013 · population 328,961 · part of Boulder, CO

$728k
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
$728k
▼ 2.1% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$2,297
▲ 1.0% year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
3.8%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$2,124
market rent is 1.08x 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+35.3%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−2.1%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$756k
Surveyed gross rent$1,966
Rent burden 30%+59.9%
Median year built1986
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
5.3%vacant
144,729estimated housing units
Occupied tenure38.0% renter
owner 62.0%renter 38.0%
Structure mix66.0% single-family
Single-family 66.0%20+ units 13.4%Mobile home 2.3%Other 18.3%
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 jobs191,466▼ 1.3% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments18,682annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,948▲ 5.1% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorProfessional and business services25.6% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−1.3%WEEKLY WAGE+5.1%Professional and business services25.6%
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

At county level, Boulder’s decision tension is a softer price backdrop against positive asking-rent growth, leaving cash-flow buyers to test carrying costs and resale-liquidity buyers cautious. Zillow’s 2026-06 median home value of $727,688 was down 2.07% year over year; FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI was down 0.10%. These are differently dated, differently constructed series: the HPI corroborates direction, but is not a home value and cannot be combined with Zillow into an appreciation rate.

02Housing economics

The measured median asking rent is $2,297 monthly, and the stated gross yield is 3.79% before costs; rent increased year over year. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is $2,124 monthly, a payment standard rather than an estimate of asking rent, so it cannot replace market rent in yield work. The effective property-tax rate is 0.53%, with median annual tax of $3,998. Net yield cannot be determined because operating expenses, vacancy, insurance and financing terms are not published.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s MLS listing-market evidence shows median listing price down 4.14% year over year, fewer active listings, a 51-day median marketing time, and a 21.17% price-reduced share. Those are asking-price, visible-supply, marketing-time and seller-concession measures, not closed sales or standalone proof of buyer demand. The annual QCEW workplace series shows covered employment declining while average weekly wages rose; Professional and business services is the largest disclosed private supersector by employment. Tax-return migration is net outbound, though movers in report higher average income than movers out. Investors represented 8.79% of 3,321 purchase mortgages, showing some non-owner competition but not its property-type or neighborhood focus.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled climate loss equals 0.16% of building value annually, and inland flood is the dominant hazard; this county-level ratio cannot establish parcel exposure or dollar loss. The combined price, rent, tax and hazard evidence supports a property-by-property screen, not a countywide cash-flow conclusion. Flood-zone status, insurance quotes, operating costs, vacancy, lease terms, sale transactions and property condition are not published in this record; without them, an underwriter cannot determine net income, resale execution or flood-cost exposure.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Boulder 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
Boulder city106.4KLongmont city*99.4KErie town*33.8KLafayette city30.6KLouisville city20.8KSuperior town*13.3KGunbarrel CDP10.1KNiwot CDP3.4K
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

34 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Boulder cityIncorporated place
    106,433
  2. 02
    Longmont cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    99,406
  3. 03
    Erie townIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    33,808
  4. 04
    Lafayette cityIncorporated place
    30,602
  5. 05
    Louisville cityIncorporated place
    20,786
  6. 06
    Superior townIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    13,305
  7. 07
    Gunbarrel CDPCensus-designated place
    10,051
  8. 08
    Niwot CDPCensus-designated place
    3,447
  9. 09
    Coal Creek CDPCensus-designated place · spans 3 counties
    2,346
  10. 10
    Lyons townIncorporated place
    1,838
  11. 11
    Nederland townIncorporated place
    1,655
  12. 12
    Allenspark CDPCensus-designated place
    825
Show 22 more places
  1. 13
    Lazy Acres CDPCensus-designated place
    778
  2. 14
    Paragon Estates CDPCensus-designated place
    667
  3. 15
    Altona CDPCensus-designated place
    587
  4. 16
    Pine Brook Hill CDPCensus-designated place
    543
  5. 17
    Sugarloaf CDPCensus-designated place
    474
  6. 18
    Eldora CDPCensus-designated place
    465
  7. 19
    St. Ann Highlands CDPCensus-designated place
    453
  8. 20
    Tall Timber CDPCensus-designated place
    382
  9. 21
    Sunshine CDPCensus-designated place
    330
  10. 22
    Jamestown townIncorporated place
    324
  11. 23
    Eldorado Springs CDPCensus-designated place
    320
  12. 24
    Crisman CDPCensus-designated place
    268
  13. 25
    Bark Ranch CDPCensus-designated place
    199
  14. 26
    Seven Hills CDPCensus-designated place
    183
  15. 27
    Mountain Meadows CDPCensus-designated place
    180
  16. 28
    Gold Hill CDPCensus-designated place
    178
  17. 29
    Ward townIncorporated place
    103
  18. 30
    Glendale CDPCensus-designated place
    69
  19. 31
    Bonanza Mountain Estates CDPCensus-designated place
    56
  20. 32
    Hidden Lake CDPCensus-designated place
    29
  21. 33
    Valmont CDPCensus-designated place
    27
  22. 34
    Leyner CDPCensus-designated place
    0

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 hazardinland flooding

0.162% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.53%

$3,998 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-863

13,277 in · 14,140 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$9,743

$98,090 arriving · $88,347 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors8.8%

292 of 3,321 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 listings1,418▼ 7.1% year over year
Median days on market51▲ 17.2% year over year
Listings price-reduced21.2%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 4.1% year over year

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

Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Parcel flood exposure or insurance cost may be materially worse than the county modeled-loss ratio.
  2. Unpublished operating costs, vacancy and financing terms may materially change the stated gross yield.
  3. County-level MLS, migration and workplace data may not describe the target neighborhood or property type.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Does the HUD two-bedroom FMR measure observed market asking rent?

No. It is a HUD payment standard, while the record separately publishes measured median asking rent.

Which disclosed private supersector is largest by employment?

Professional and business services.

Does the record publish parcel flood-zone status or an insurance quote?

No; it provides a county-level modeled climate-loss ratio and names inland flood as the dominant hazard.