Highlands Ranch, CO
What Highlands Ranch is actually like
The land was mostly settled by homesteaders in the 1880s. A small 1891 stone farmhouse built by Samuel Allen Long grew, through a succession of wealthy owners -- John Springer, Col. William Hughes, oil magnate Waite Phillips, and finally Lawrence C. Phipps Jr., who owned it 1937-1976 -- into a 27,000-square-foot mansion, now the Highlands Ranch Mansion museum. After Phipps' death, the Mission Viejo Company bought the 22,000-acre ranch in 1979 for roughly $26 million; the first homes sold in 1981, founding today's master-planned suburb.
Highlands Ranch is legally unincorporated -- governed by Douglas County, with services run by the Highlands Ranch Metro District and the Highlands Ranch Community Association (HRCA), reportedly the largest homeowners' community association in the U.S. It's the most populous unincorporated community in Colorado, with 103,444 residents at the 2020 Census. Housing is almost entirely 1980s-2000s planned-community single-family subdivisions and townhomes built out in phases, with HOA-governed landscaping and shared amenities including 26-plus parks and more than 70 miles of trails. In 2019, 68-million-year-old dinosaur fossils were unearthed here.
Home values in Highlands Ranch
Zillow's home value index for Highlands Ranch put it at $701,241 as of July 31, 2026, down 2.4% year-over-year.
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Highlands Ranch is thoroughly car-dependent -- there's no light rail line through the community, and the nearest stations require a drive. Within the community, HRCA's 70-plus miles of trails make walking and biking to parks and schools genuinely pleasant, but daily errands and any regional commute assume a car.
Highlands Ranch FAQ
Is Highlands Ranch a city?
No -- it's an unincorporated Douglas County community, the largest unincorporated community in Colorado (103,444 residents, 2020 census).
Can I take the train to downtown Denver?
Not directly -- there's no light rail station in Highlands Ranch; residents drive or bus to a station outside the community.
What's the housing stock like?
Almost entirely planned-community single-family and townhome construction from the 1980s-2000s.
What's the biggest weather risk?
Hail -- the area lies within the broader Front Range corridor hit by Colorado's costliest recent hailstorms.
Nearby alternatives*
Littleton
About 15-20 minutes northwest, with direct D Line light rail access Highlands Ranch lacks entirely -- a lower typical value (around $626,000 versus $701,000) and a historic small-town downtown rather than a planned-community layout.
Parker
A comparable Douglas County suburb to the east, similarly car-dependent -- a slightly lower typical value (around $675,000) and a historic town core rather than a single master-planned development.
Centennial
About 20 minutes northeast, with direct E/R Line light rail access -- a lower typical value (around $641,000) and its own city government rather than Highlands Ranch's unincorporated, HOA-governed structure.
*We're not ranking these — every neighborhood has real trade-offs, and which ones matter is up to you.