Denver Metro Communities Ranked by Violent Crime Rate

Updated May 2026 · Research by Jessica Car

Public safety is a hard topic to compare honestly. Violent crime rate (incidents per 1,000 residents per year) is the most widely-published apples-to-apples metric across Denver-metro communities, sourced from the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data each community publishes. Lower numbers are safer.

Two structural caveats: (1) small towns have small denominators, so a year-over-year jump in raw incidents can swing the per-capita rate dramatically without representing a real trend, and (2) suburban communities with major retail destinations (Cherry Creek, Park Meadows in Lone Tree, Boulder's downtown) carry crime against shoppers who don't live there, which inflates per-resident rates without changing what residents experience.

For most relocating families, the practical version of this question is "is the neighborhood I'd actually live in safe?" — not the city-wide average. Use this list to surface the broad tier, then check the per-community safety section for context: arrests vs. reports, year-over-year trend, and the specific neighborhood's recent activity.

Rank	Community	Region	Violent crime rate
1	Erie	Boulder Area	0.2–0.3 per 1,000 residents (one of lowest in CO)
2	Lafayette	Boulder Area	0.6 per 1,000 residents (well below national average)
3	Washington Park	Central Denver	0.7/month avg (2025); one of Denver's lowest incident rates
4	Windsor	Northern Colorado	<1 per 1,000 — one of the lowest rates in NoCo
5	Timnath	Northern Colorado	<1 per 1,000 — very low
6	Berthoud	Northern Colorado	<1 per 1,000 — very low
7	Louisville	Boulder Area	1 in 800 — well below national average
8	Nederland	Boulder Area	Very low — 1 in 1,497 chance of violent crime
9	Thornton	North Metro	1 in 368 chance of violent crime
10	RiNo	Central Denver	Denver central: 1 in 14 crime risk
11	Morrison	West Metro & Foothills	1 in 10,000 — virtually no violent crime (tiny population)
12	Castle Pines	South Metro	1.0 per 1,000
13	Superior	Boulder Area	1.2 per 1,000 residents (one of lowest in CO)
14	Highlands Ranch	South Metro	2.3 per 1,000
15	Loveland	Northern Colorado	2.5 per 1,000
16	Castle Rock	South Metro	2.7 per 1,000
17	Parker	South Metro	2.7 per 1,000
18	Arvada	North Metro	3–4.4 per 1,000 residents
19	The Highlands	Central Denver	3.0 per 1,000 (1 in 77 chance)
20	Fort Collins	Northern Colorado	3.2 per 1,000
21	Boulder	Boulder Area	3.2 per 1,000 residents
22	Longmont	Boulder Area	3.5 per 1,000 residents
23	Broomfield	North Metro	4.0 per 1,000 residents
24	Greenwood Village	South Metro	4.0 per 1,000 (DTC commercial activity inflates stats — residential areas very safe)
25	Westminster	North Metro	4.18 per 1,000 residents
26	Littleton	South Metro	4.3 per 1,000
27	Lone Tree	South Metro	4.3 per 1,000
28	Cherry Creek	Central Denver	4.5 per 1,000 (about avg for US)
29	Golden	West Metro & Foothills	4.7 per 1,000 (AreaVibes/NeighborhoodScout)
30	Wheat Ridge	West Metro & Foothills	4.8 per 1,000 — near Colorado average
31	Palmer Lake	Colorado Springs	4.9 per 1,000 — low
32	Greeley	Northern Colorado	5.5 per 1,000 (above state avg)
33	Platt Park	Central Denver	5.7 per 1,000
34	Park Hill	Central Denver	9.1 per 1,000 (varies significantly by sub-neighborhood)
35	Baker	Central Denver	9.95 per 1,000 residents; 14th of 78 Denver neighborhoods
36	Lochbuie	North Metro	10.9 per 1,000 (national avg 22.7)
37	Strasburg	East Metro	11 per 1,000 (significantly below national average of 22.7)
38	Bennett	East Metro	13.4 per 1,000 (below national average of 22.7)
39	Five Points	Central Denver	17.9 per 1,000 (814% above national avg)
40	LoDo	Central Denver	30.5 per 1,000 (elevated — downtown urban core dynamics)
41	Watkins	East Metro	Low — unincorporated area with very low population density (~680 residents, 2020 Census)
42	Aurora	East Metro	947.8 per 100K (elevated but trending down)
43	Pueblo	Pueblo	~1,621 per 100K (3.97× national avg) — elevated but trending down
44	Severance	Northern Colorado	Very low — rural community feel
45	Johnstown	Northern Colorado	Low — growing community
46	Wellington	Northern Colorado	Very low — rural community
47	Brighton	North Metro	—
48	Commerce City	North Metro	—
49	Federal Heights	North Metro	—
50	Northglenn	North Metro	—
51	Conifer	West Metro & Foothills	Very low — rural mountain community
52	Edgewater	West Metro & Foothills	Moderate — small city with some elevated property crime
53	Evergreen	West Metro & Foothills	Very low — rural mountain community
54	Lakewood	West Metro & Foothills	Moderate — higher than Jefferson County average but below Denver
55	Centennial	South Metro	Low — safe suburban city
56	Englewood	South Metro	—
57	Fountain	Colorado Springs	Moderate — Niche Safety grade: C
58	Manitou Springs	Colorado Springs	Low — small town with tourism-related petty crime
59	Monument	Colorado Springs	Very low — small town, El Paso County Sheriff + Monument PD
60	Peyton	Colorado Springs	Low — rural area, El Paso County Sheriff
61	Woodland Park	Colorado Springs	Low — small mountain city
62	Beulah	Pueblo	Very low — rural mountain community with minimal crime
63	Pueblo West	Pueblo	Lower than Pueblo proper — suburban community served by County Sheriff