Also known as: Denver Metro Authority
Denver is a upper-middle-income mid-sized city of 718,877.
Denver sits at almost exactly 5,280 feet above sea level, a fact the city has leaned into so thoroughly that it printed the elevation on the thirteenth step of the State Capitol building. It is also, as of the most recent Census count, home to 718,877 people, which makes it the kind of place large enough to have its own gravitational pull on the surrounding region while still being, block by block, a collection of distinct neighborhoods that feel like they belong to different cities entirely.
Population and Demographics
According to Census ACS 5-Year 2024 data, Denver's total population stands at 718,877. The median age is 35.3 years, and 18.0 percent of residents are under 18, with 129,515 children counted in that cohort. The 18-to-34 age group numbers 225,829, which gives the city a notably young adult character alongside its family-oriented base.
The city's racial and ethnic composition, per Census ACS 5-Year 2023, includes 448,646 white residents, 62,785 Black residents, 25,845 Asian residents, and 199,425 Hispanic or Latino residents. There are 329,578 total households, of which 150,345 are family households.
Income, Housing, and Affordability
The median household income for Denver, per entity facts drawn from federal data, is $91,681. The home-price-to-income ratio, derived from Census income and housing data, sits at 6.5, a figure that places Denver in the "expensive" category for homeownership. A ratio above roughly 4 or 5 is generally where housing economists begin to use words like "stretched," and 6.5 is comfortably past that threshold.
Rent tells a somewhat different story. The rent-to-income percentage is 22.4, which the same derived dataset classifies as "affordable" — meaning that for renters, the monthly burden, while real, has not yet crossed the conventional 30-percent warning line. These two figures together describe a city where buying has become difficult for many households, while renting remains within reach for a larger share of the population.
Age and Household Character
The 35-to-64 age cohort is the largest single working-age band in the city. The median age of 35.3 reflects a population that skews younger than many comparable American cities, a pattern consistent with Denver's sustained in-migration of young professionals over the past two decades. The Census ACS data characterizes the city's demographic profile as "family-oriented," which sits in mild tension with the large young-adult cohort — though the two are not mutually exclusive in a city of this size.
Air Quality
The EPA AQI Annual Summary for 2024 recorded 366 days of air quality monitoring in Denver. Of those, 129 were classified as "good" days and 208 as "moderate." There were 26 days categorized as unhealthy for sensitive groups, and 3 days classified as outright unhealthy. No very unhealthy or hazardous days were recorded. The maximum AQI reading for the year was 172. Denver's air quality is shaped by its geography — the city sits in a basin against the Front Range, which can trap pollutants during inversions — and by its proximity to both heavy vehicle traffic and wildfire smoke corridors from the west.
Broadband Access
According to FCC Broadband Data Collection figures as of June 2025, Denver has 394,753 total units assessed for broadband availability. Coverage at the 25/3 Mbps threshold, the FCC's basic broadband standard, reaches 100 percent of units. Coverage at 100/20 Mbps also reaches 100 percent. At the 250/25 Mbps tier, coverage remains at 100 percent. At the 1,000/100 Mbps tier, coverage reaches approximately 89.8 percent of units. By any reasonable measure, Denver is among the better-served large American cities for broadband infrastructure.
Education
Denver contains 20 colleges and universities, per NCES IPEDS 2022 data matched by city and state. Among them, Metropolitan State University of Denver reports an average SAT score of 1,019, an admission rate of 98.8 percent, in-state tuition of $11,124, out-of-state tuition of $30,684, and an enrollment of 15,002 students, according to the College Scorecard. The city also has 275 licensed childcare centers, per state facility data, ranging from Montessori programs to standard center-based care.
Climate
The nearest NOAA monitoring station, Denver Museum, located 0.8 miles from the city center, records an average temperature of 54.9 degrees Fahrenheit and annual precipitation of 13.6 inches, per NOAA ACIS data. Denver's climate is semi-arid, which surprises some newcomers who associate Colorado with heavy snowfall. The city does receive snow, sometimes dramatically, but the low annual precipitation figure reflects how quickly that snow tends to melt under the region's intense sunshine.
Civic and Community Infrastructure
Denver has 411 religious congregations registered with the IRS Exempt Organizations database, spanning a range that includes Christian fellowships, Islamic centers, and Jewish congregations, among others. There are 41 arts organizations, including the National Ballet of Denver, Ballet Arts Theatre, and Firehouse Theater Company. Nine animal rescue and shelter organizations operate in the city, and 23 civic service organizations are active, including a Boys & Girls Club chapter at 2017 W 9th Ave.
The city has 9 animal shelters and rescue organizations, per IRS and state registry data, and a chamber of commerce presence that includes the African Chamber of Commerce of Colorado USA, identified through the IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File.
Banking
FDIC branch data shows a substantial banking presence in Denver, including institutions such as First Western Trust Bank's Cherry Creek Branch at 240 Saint Paul St and Wells Fargo Bank, among others. The breadth of the branch network reflects Denver's role as the financial center of the Rocky Mountain region.
Municipal Code
Denver's zoning and land use regulations are codified in the city's municipal code, available through Municode at https://library.municode.com/co/denver. The zoning ordinance, as referenced in the corpus of municipal documents, is formally titled the "zoning ordinance of the city," a designation that appears in various section headers and is the governing instrument for land use decisions across the municipality.
Colorado state law, under C.R.S. Title 44, governs licensing for alcohol, cannabis, and related regulated industries at the state level, with local option provisions under C.R.S. § 44-3-105 allowing municipalities to set additional conditions within their jurisdictions.
Further Reading
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates — https://data.census.gov
- National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data — https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/
- City of Denver, Municipal Code (Municode) — https://library.municode.com/co/denver