Ken Caryl is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, CO. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Ken Caryl

Ken Caryl is an unincorporated community in Colorado with household incomes running above the national average, a highly educated workforce, and schools with class sizes near the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Ken Caryl deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, and cold winters.

The good

  • Higher-than-average incomes
  • Highly educated workforce
  • Average class sizes

The not so good

  • Rent well above the national average
  • High home prices
  • Air quality concerns
  • Cold winters

How Ken Caryl compares

Median household income

Ken Caryl$118,269
Colorado avg$95,470
US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Ken Caryl$2,127
Colorado avg$1,761
US$1,413

Median home value

Ken Caryl$600,300
Colorado avg$539,400
US$332,700

What it takes to move to Ken Caryl

Based on Ken Caryl's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$4,254

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

  • Income to keep rent under 30%: $85,080 a year
  • 42% of Ken Caryl renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$120,060

a 20% down payment on the median home

  • With 10% down: $60,030
  • Homes cost 5.1× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 51% above US

$2,127/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $2,127 a month median and well above the national average. This is the kind of city where housing costs deserve serious budgeting before committing to a move. Home prices are steep, with a median around $600,300. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $600,300 · 42% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

3.8% county unemployment

Unemployment in Jefferson County is 3.8%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Jefferson County (county-wide)

Safety

230 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Ken Caryl doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 920/100k · Policed by Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

28 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 27.5 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 7 in 10 workers drive to work; 27% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone
63%
Work from home
27%
Carpool
6.0%
Other
2.5%
Public transit
0.9%
Walk
0.9%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 84°F, and winters are cold and harsh, with lows dropping to 20°F. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)
10°30°50°70°90°3"Jan: 0.48" precipitationFeb: 0.67" precipitationMar: 1.19" precipitationApr: 2.07" precipitationMay: 2.73" precipitationJun: 1.87" precipitationJul: 2.05" precipitationAug: 1.85" precipitationSep: 1.26" precipitationOct: 1.04" precipitationNov: 0.74" precipitationDec: 0.61" precipitation19°JJan: high 46°F, low 19°FFFeb: high 47°F, low 20°FMMar: high 55°F, low 28°FAApr: high 60°F, low 35°FMMay: high 69°F, low 44°FJJun: high 81°F, low 53°F86°JJul: high 86°F, low 60°FAAug: high 85°F, low 58°FSSep: high 77°F, low 49°FOOct: high 64°F, low 37°FNNov: high 53°F, low 28°FDDec: high 45°F, low 20°F

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▲ 40% above US

50% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a highly educated city, with over half the adult population holding a college degree. That tends to shape the job market and the broader culture, and it's a solid indicator of a strong professional scene.

Schools

10 public schools inside the boundary

There are 10 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 18:1, slightly above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (47 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Ken Caryl's strongest points are household incomes running above the national average and a highly educated workforce; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($2,127/mo) equals 22% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (27% of workers here already work from home) and college-educated professionals. It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget.

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