Evergreen

What Homes Cost

The median runs $830K to $878K as of 2026 depending on the source, with the lower estimate down 10.8% year over year as the market corrects from its pandemic peaks. The spread is wide, from $500K cabins to estates above $2M. That lands roughly $80K to $120K above neighboring Conifer but well below the Summit County mountain towns, about half the cost of comparable resort-area communities.

Estimated monthly cost

$6,700 – $7,000/mo

Covers housing, transportation, utilities, and groceries.

See the full breakdown: mortgage at today's rate, property tax at Evergreen's mill levy, utilities at local provider rates, and a gas estimate tuned to the commute distance. Adjust sliders to model your own budget.

Evergreen Lake is the centerpiece. Winter turns it into an ice rink under the pines, summer brings the paddleboards, and a 1.3-mile loop rings the water year-round. Elk Meadow Park adds a 4.6-mile loop through free-roaming elk herds, Alderfer/Three Sisters covers the hiking, and the parks-and-recreation district maintains more than 230 miles of trails.

The historic core has kept its Colorado character. The Little Bear Saloon has hosted live music since 1972, Muddy Buck Coffee House pours inside the historic Evergreen Hotel, and Lariat Lodge Brewing works a mountain-view patio, with Murphy's Mountain Grill and Creekside Cellars covering dinner. The Evergreen Players, one of Colorado's oldest community theaters (on stage since 1950), perform at the Lake House, and Summerfest and a Jazz Festival fill out the calendar. King Soopers, Safeway, and Evergreen Natural Foods handle groceries, with fuller selection down the hill in Lakewood or Golden.

Evergreen suits buyers who want the real thing: elk in the meadow, pines out the window, a frozen lake in January, and all of it still within commuting distance of Denver, with a top-rated high school and a genuine town center included.

The trade-offs are the mountain's terms. The commute is weather-dependent, transit and grocery selection are limited, wildfire risk raises insurance considerations, and unincorporated living means county and district services rather than a city hall. Buyers who need a fast, reliable Denver commute or full municipal services will weigh the foothills suburbs instead; buyers after a mountain-town life that still feeds an A-rated high school will find the metro's best balance here.

The Practical File

Evergreen is unincorporated, so there is no municipal government and no municipal sales tax. The Evergreen Metropolitan District provides water, sewer, and fire service, Jefferson County handles the roads, and Xcel supplies power and gas. Property tax runs roughly 1.0 to 1.5% (a median bill near $5,010), and cost of living sits about 24% above the national average. At 7,220 feet, plan on about 86 inches of snow a year, and wildfire risk is elevated at the mountain-forest interface, with defensible-space requirements to match.