Westminster, CO
What Westminster is actually like
Settlement began with Kentucky farmer Pleasant DeSpain's 1870 claim ("DeSpain Junction"); Connecticut developer C.J. Harris bought the land in 1885 and renamed it "Harris, Colorado." The current name comes from Westminster University, founded 1890 and modeled on Princeton ("Princeton of the West"), built of Red Rocks-quarried sandstone; the university closed in 1917 when students left for WWI. The post office adopted "Westminster" in 1908; the town incorporated in 1911.
Today it's a built-out Denver-Boulder corridor suburb of mostly mid-to-late-20th-century single-family and townhome development, with a 2020 population of 116,317, Colorado's 8th-largest city. Its most distinctive landmark, City Hall, has a 14-story bell tower deliberately modeled on London's Big Ben, with a transplanted English Oak on the grounds -- an odd echo of the city's borrowed name.
Home values in Westminster
Zillow's home value index for Westminster put it at $527,400 as of June 30, 2026, down 2.6% year-over-year.
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Westminster's B Line station puts it about 15 minutes from Union Station by direct commuter rail, and the US-36 Flatiron Flyer corridor also connects it to Boulder by bus-rapid-transit. Most of the city's residential subdivisions away from those two corridors are car-dependent.
Westminster FAQ
Why is it called "Westminster"?
After Westminster University, a short-lived (1890-1917) private college built to resemble Princeton, with red sandstone from the Red Rocks area.
Is there commuter rail?
Yes -- the B Line terminates at Westminster station, about 15 minutes to Union Station.
What's the nearest hospital?
St. Anthony North Hospital, located in Westminster itself.
What's the typical home value?
$527,400 as of June 2026 (Zillow's index), down 2.6% year-over-year.
Nearby alternatives*
Arvada
About 15-20 minutes southwest on the G Line (a different line from Westminster's B Line) -- a higher typical value (around $605,000) and a foothills-adjacent location rather than a Denver-Boulder-corridor one.
Broomfield
Immediately adjacent, on the same US-36 Flatiron Flyer corridor -- a comparable typical value (around $616,000) but a genuinely unusual city-and-county government structure rather than Westminster's standard municipal government.
Boulder
About 20-25 minutes further northwest on the same Flatiron Flyer corridor -- a much higher typical value (around $957,000) and a college-town character built around CU Boulder.
*We're not ranking these — every neighborhood has real trade-offs, and which ones matter is up to you.