Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 46/100
D
Median home value$517,500
Denver $603,800
Median rent$1,895/mo
Denver $1,874/mo
Cost-burdened households36%
Denver 34%
Thornton
Adams County144,187 residents3 school districts
56
C−
Suburbgrade score
25th of 32 Denver suburbs. Strongest on amenities, held back by commute & transport.
56
Denver median 65
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Thornton yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 56 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →
What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.
What Thornton is like to live in, by category
Bars show Thornton against Denver. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 50/100
D+
Within-state proficiency51st pct
Denver median 88th pct
Student–teacher ratio17.9
Denver median 17.7
Graduation rate80%
Denver median 85%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 72/100
B−
Housing cost index96
Denver 100
Eff. tax rate0.65%
Denver 0.55%
Local sales tax7.89%
Denver median 7.89%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 42/100
D−
Mean commute30.4 min
Denver 27.0 min
Under 30 minutes50%
Denver 58%
Transit stops / sq mi1.8
Denver median 2.7 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 74/100
B
Restaurants & cafés63
Denver median 60 · within 2 miles
Groceries4
Denver median 4 · within 2 miles
Parks112
Denver median 77 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 60/100
C
Median household income$103,088
Denver $105,762
Unemployment4.5%
Denver 4.5%
Professional occupations39%
Denver 51%
Residents
12% of the score · inactive
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No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.
Ask the people who live here
Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.
Nobody has answered for Thornton yet. If you live here, you can be the first.
Is it quiet at night?
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Do you feel safe walking after dark?
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Can you walk to a grocery store?
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Is it good for young children?
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Are yards and streets well kept?
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Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →
Better than Thornton on commute & transport
Thornton's weakest grade is D−. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbCommuteOverall
Greenwood Village21 mi from ThorntonA 75 B Superior12 mi from ThorntonB+ 72 B− Cherry Creek22 mi from ThorntonB+ 75 B Englewood19 mi from ThorntonB+ 63 C+ Wheat Ridge13 mi from ThorntonB 66 C+ Denver11 mi from ThorntonB 65 C+ Mean commute: ACS 2020–24 · Commuting under 30 minutes: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Thornton
Is Thornton, CO a good place to live?
Thornton scores 56 out of 100, 25th of 32 Denver suburbs. It is strongest on amenities and weakest on commute & transport. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Thornton expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades B−. The median home is $517,500, 14% below the Denver median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.65%. $1,895/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Thornton?
Schools grade D+. The districts serving Thornton sit at the 51st pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 80% graduation rate and a 17.9 student–teacher ratio. Thornton is served by Adams 12 Five Star Schools, School District 27j and Adams County School District 14. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Thornton?
The mean commute is 30.4 min, with 50% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 15% working from home. Transit density is 1.8 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Thornton?
Within two miles there are 4 groceries, 63 restaurants and cafés and 112 parks, which grades B on amenities.
Are the homes in Thornton old or new?
The median home in Thornton was built in 1997 — newer than the Denver median of 1987. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 72% of homes are houses rather than flats.
Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.