Highlands Ranch, Colorado
26 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Sedalia census division. It lies in ZIP code area 80126. The Survey maps it on the Highlands Ranch quadrangle. 103,444 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,920 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresHighlands Ranch grew from 96,713 to 103,444 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 96,713 | |
| 2020 | 103,444 | +6,731 (+7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 26 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1890 USGS East Denver quadrangle1:125000
- 1935 USGS East Denver Nos. 3 and 4 quadrangle1:48000
- 1942 USGS Highland Ranch quadrangle1:31680
- 1949 USGS Highland Ranch quadrangle1:24000
- 1949 USGS Highlands Ranch quadrangle1:24000
- 1953 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1957 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Highlands Ranch quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Highlands Ranch quadrangle1:24000, 8 printings
- 1981 USGS Denver East quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
563 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 563 fires within 5 miles of Highlands Ranch between 1996 and 2020, burning about 861 acres in total. 9 started naturally. 12 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 443 |
| Smoking | 39 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 27 |
| Fireworks | 13 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 12 |
| Natural | 9 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 8 |
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | South Metro Fire Rescue | UNKNOWN |
| 9 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Littleton Fire Rescue | UNKNOWN |
| 8 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 4 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 3 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 3 September 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 3 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | South Metro Fire Rescue | UNKNOWN |
| 3 September 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Littleton Fire Rescue | UNKNOWN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 39 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 39 workings within 5 miles of Highlands Ranch: 19 producers, 10 occurrences, 8 unknowns, 2 past producers. 19 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Gold, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarry | Stone | Producer | ||
| Louviers Plant | REE | Producer | ||
| Molycorp Inc Louviers Plant | REE | Producer | ||
| Claypit | Clay | Producer | ||
| Diamond Clay Mine | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Clay | Occurrence | Clay | |
| Big Dry Creek Placers | Gold | Occurrence | 1858 | |
| Big Dry Creek Placers | Gold | Unknown | ||
| Cherry Creek Mine | Gold | Past Producer | ||
| Little Dry Creek Placers | Gold | Occurrence | Placer |
Storms near this place
44 since 2014Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Highlands Ranch in 44 storm reports between 2014 and 2025: 33 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2017 | Lightning | Highlands Ranch | $1,000 | A nearby lightning strike slightly injured a woman while she was watching a youth |baseball game. |
| May 2025 | Heavy Rain | Highlands Ranch | - | Rainfall of 1.58 inches was reported. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Highlands Ranch | - | The wind gust was recorded at the mesonet station CO001 located at I-25 and C470. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | Report via mPing. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | The report was received via social media. The location and time were estimated. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Highlands Ranch | - | The observation was from the station CO001 located at I-25 and C-470. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Highlands Ranch | - | Several trees were uprooted and tree limbs broken. |
| June 2023 | Tornado (EF1) | Highlands Ranch | - | A tornado touched down just south of CO-470 in Douglas County, west of Lucent Blvd, impacting the city of Highlands Ranch. The tornado lifted just west of the intersection of Lincoln Ave and Lone Tree Parkway. Most all of the damage was rated EF-0, with small pockets of EF1 damage as well which involved a well built single family home. |
| September 2019 | Tornado (EF0) | Highlands Ranch | - | A weak tornado touched down briefly in an open field. No damage was observed. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| April 2024 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| May 2023 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| August 2023 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| August 2023 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| July 2021 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| September 2021 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| September 2021 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| September 2021 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| September 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| August 2018 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| September 2015 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| September 2014 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| September 2014 | Hail | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
| August 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Highlands Ranch | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kistler Park | 1.0 miles | 26 | |
| Gateway | 3.4 miles | 26 | |
| Blakeland | 3.6 miles | 21 | |
| Acequia | 3.7 miles | 21 | |
| Acres Green | 3.9 miles | 26 | |
| Carriage Club | 3.9 miles | 26 | |
| McArthur Ranch | 4.2 miles | 26 | |
| Heritage Hills | 4.9 miles | 26 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Highlands Ranch | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q750935 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1867085. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.











