DENVER (KDVR) — Inner city schools have a bad reputation for poverty, but in Colorado the poorest schools are in the country.
U.S. Census Bureau data shows that the school districts with the highest median household incomes are mostly concentrated in either the Denver metro area or in the resort counties of the High Rockies.
This top quartile brings home an average $80,400 median household income. Among these school districts are Cherry Creek, Jefferson and Douglas counties and several other Denver-area districts.
The average median household income per district is $57,374. Denver Public Schools has a median household income of $63,793 – about 11% higher than average and near the top of the second quartile of incomes.
By contrast, each of the bottom quartile of school districts by median household income are each in highly rural areas such as Saguache, Costilla or Las Animas counties.