The 10 Worst Lakewood Suburbs For 2023


We used data and Friday Night Science to identify the worst suburbs of Lakewood for 2023. The worst Lakewood suburbs are Sheridan and Federal Heights.

The suburbs of Lakewood call to all types of people looking to escape city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Lakewood to avoid all the hustle and bustle.

So the question arises: do the suburbs maintain a semblance of the larger-than-life appeal of their more famous neighbor?

Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Lakewood ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Lakewood area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Lakewood proper, although Castle Pines certainly tries.

Of course, not all suburbs of Lakewood are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones.

We examined the 33 biggest suburbs of Lakewood to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Colorado lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Lakewood in terms of quality of life.

The 10 worst suburbs around Lakewood for 2023

  1. Sheridan
  2. Federal Heights
  3. Aurora
  4. Commerce
  5. Brighton
  6. Dacono
  7. Northglenn
  8. Lochbuie
  9. Wheat Ridge
  10. Thornton

Now don’t freak out.

What’s the worst suburb of Lakewood? Sheridan ranks as the worst suburb of Lakewood for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

Read on to see how we determined the places around Lakewood that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don’t blame the messenger.

Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in Colorado check out the best places in Colorado overall or the worst.

And remember, there are some good places to live around Lakewood too.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


For more Colorado reading, check out:

The 10 Worst Lakewood Suburbs To Live For 2023

Sheridan, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,090
Median Income: $48,449 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (highest)
Median Home Value: $280,700 (6th lowest)
More on Sheridan:

We’ll get the ball rolling with Sheridan, the absolute worst place to live around Lakewood according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Sheridan beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the worst in the Lakewood area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 6th worst when it comes to home values.

But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Sheridan.

You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.

Federal Heights, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 14,111
Median Income: $51,078 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.0% (15th highest)
Median Home Value: $74,600 (lowest)
More on Federal Heights:

Welcome to Federal Heights. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 12.6 miles to Lakewood. Income levels here are the 2nd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $51,078 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

Aurora, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 383,496
Median Income: $72,052 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $350,200 (9th lowest)
More on Aurora:

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Lakewood suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Aurora on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.

In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other Lakewood suburbs.

But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.

4. Commerce

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 7,213
Median Income: $60,009 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 1.8% (33rd highest)
Median Home Value: $180,500 (2nd lowest)
More on Commerce:

If you live in Commerce, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 3rd lowest Lakewood suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the 33rd worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Lakewood. Remember, we looked at 33 cities for this study.

Commerce is about 21.3 miles to downtown.

Brighton, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 39,895
Median Income: $79,280 (14th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (8th highest)
Median Home Value: $366,200 (11th lowest)
More on Brighton:

Brighton has the distinction of being a Lakewood suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Brighton has the 11th lowest home values in the metro Lakewood area, where the median price is $366,200. The median income is $186,976.

Brighton has an unemployment rate of 4.65% which ranks 8th worst.

Dacono, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 6,084
Median Income: $85,518 (19th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.6% (9th highest)
Median Home Value: $347,500 (8th lowest)
More on Dacono:

Dacono has 6,084 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)

Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 6.525312294543062%.

Northglenn, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 37,899
Median Income: $73,163 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $351,500 (10th lowest)
More on Northglenn:

Ah, Northglenn. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Lakewood.

It’s the place with the 6th most out of work residents in the Lakewood metro area (4.71%).

Lochbuie, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 7,730
Median Income: $76,240 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 2.7% (29th highest)
Median Home Value: $293,500 (7th lowest)
More on Lochbuie:

Lochbuie is a city about 29.9 miles from Lakewood, but Lakewood probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Lochbuie has the 3rd most uninsured people, 12th worst incomes, and has the 29th highest unemployment rate (2.75%) in the entire Lakewood metro area.

Homes only cost $293,500 for a reason. That’s cheap for Lakewood standards.

Wheat Ridge, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Hustvedt | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 32,340
Median Income: $73,231 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.7% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $459,500 (18th lowest)
More on Wheat Ridge:

If you absolutely have to live near Lakewood, then Wheat Ridge might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Lakewood suburb.

About 5.69% of residents are out of work.

Thornton, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Billy Hathorn | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 140,538
Median Income: $86,818 (20th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (7th highest)
Median Home Value: $376,900 (12th lowest)
More on Thornton:

Rounding out the ten worst Lakewood suburbs to call home is Thornton.

Located 17.8 miles outside the city, Thorntons is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 7th highest unemployment rate (4.66%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Lakewood for 2023

To figure out how bad a Lakewood suburb is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.

It’s Saturday Night Science.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2017-2021, this is the criteria we used:

  • High unemployment rate
  • Low median household incomes
  • Low population density (no things to do)
  • Low home values
  • A lot of high school dropouts
  • High poverty
  • High rate of uninsured families

We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of Lakewood.

We also limited the analysis to places with over 4,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 33 suburbs to evaluate around Lakewood.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 33 in each category, where 1 was the “worst.”

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index, the “Worst Suburb near Lakewood.” We’re looking at you, Sheridan.

We updated this article for 2023, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Lakewood.

Summary: The areas around Lakewood where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023

Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Lakewood with Sheridan casting itself ahead of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Lakewood aren’t all bad. Castle Pines takes the cake as the best place to live around Lakewood.

  • Castle Pines
  • Castle Pines
  • Superior

For more Colorado reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Lakewood Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Sheridan 6,090 $48,449 $280,700
2 Federal Heights 14,111 $51,078 $74,600
3 Aurora 383,496 $72,052 $350,200
4 Commerce 7,213 $60,009 $180,500
5 Brighton 39,895 $79,280 $366,200
6 Dacono 6,084 $85,518 $347,500
7 Northglenn 37,899 $73,163 $351,500
8 Lochbuie 7,730 $76,240 $293,500
9 Wheat Ridge 32,340 $73,231 $459,500
10 Thornton 140,538 $86,818 $376,900
11 Denver 706,799 $78,177 $459,100
12 Glendale 4,605 $63,673 $263,600
13 Glendale 4,605 $63,673 $263,600
14 Englewood 33,500 $72,193 $409,800
15 Westminster 115,535 $80,355 $388,300
16 Edgewater 5,047 $65,794 $473,600
17 Central 29,746 $83,947 $247,900
18 Boulder 104,930 $74,902 $790,100
19 Littleton 45,465 $82,997 $471,900
20 Golden 20,041 $83,976 $579,800
21 Arvada 122,903 $96,677 $456,200
22 Frederick 14,127 $116,283 $421,200
23 Castle Rock 71,037 $121,388 $472,800
24 Broomfield 72,697 $107,570 $482,100
25 Erie 29,367 $140,409 $565,500
26 Lafayette 30,307 $95,033 $498,400
27 Parker 57,311 $120,075 $475,400
28 Lone Tree 13,701 $113,653 $691,300
29 Centennial 107,972 $114,375 $484,500
30 Louisville 21,091 $125,124 $677,000
31 Superior 13,283 $131,757 $660,000
32 Castle Pines 11,296 $186,976 $688,100
33 Castle Pines 11,296 $186,976 $688,100
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *