Denver, the Mile High City, Denver is one of only two cities in America with eight professional sports teams.
City: Denver
State: Colorado
Best Cities Overall Rank: 39
About Denver: Denver is one of the few cities in history that was not built on a road, railroad, lake, navigable river or body of water when it was founded. It just happened to be where the first few flakes of gold were found in 1858.
Denver’s schools have a reading rank of 76 and a math rank of 84. The pupil-teacher ratio is 17 to 6.
County: Denver
Population: 598,707
Official website for city visitors’ bureau/city: Visitor’s bureau website
Newspaper with the largest circulation: Denver Post
Denver blogs: La La Girl, Crazy Bloggin Canuck, Mile High Mamas
Denver‘s Facebook page: Follow Denver on Facebook
Denver‘s Twitter page: Follow Denver on Twitter
Education rank: 54
High School graduation rate 2008: 49.5%
Blue Ribbon Schools, 2003-2009: 3
Blue Ribbon Schools per 100,000 people: 0.5
NEAYC-accredited preschools: 20
NAEYC schools per 100,000 people: 3.34
NAEP State proficiency reading, grade 8: 266
Pupil/Teacher Ratio: 17.6
Total Expenditures Per Student: $10,294
Health rank: 67
Quality children’s hospitals: 0
Hospitals per 100,000 people: 0
Quality Pediatricians: 2
Quality Pediatricians per 100,000: 0.33
Average number of Unhealthy Air Quality days between 2006-2008, by county: 0
Safety rank: 34
Violent Crimes, 2008: 3361
Violent Crime Rate per 100,000: 561.38
Sex Offenders: 1177
Sex Offenders per 100,000: 196.60
Economy rank: 37
Travel time to work, 2006-2008, in minutes: 24.8
Percent of labor force unemployed, January 2010: 8.3
Best Performing Cities Job Index: 770.02
Median Home Sale Price: $212,000
5-Year Home Value Index: -1.49%
Percent of homes sold for a loss: 22.87%
Recreation Rank: 59
Parkland acreage, 2008 (includes pools and playgrounds): 5900
Parkland per 100,000: 985.46