Wheat Ridge, Colorado Short-Term Rental Market
Wheat Ridge, CO caps whole-home STR licenses at 2% of dwellings per district; several districts are full. June 2026 ADR was $202.
Quick Answer: Wheat Ridge, Colorado is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy in the Denver market area is 78%. average monthly revenue in the Denver market area is $4,298. average daily rate in the Denver market area is $202. the top operator in the Denver market area is Evolve with 276 listings. market score is 55/100 (grade C).
Market data reflects the Denver regional market, which includes Wheat Ridge. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Wheat Ridge.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions StaySTRA evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Wheat Ridge caps non-owner-occupied whole-home short-term rentals at 2% of single- and two-unit dwelling units per City Council district, and several districts are already at capacity (Districts I, II, and IV have been full, with District III having limited availability). The cap doesn’t apply to owner-occupied partial-home STRs or to STRs in Mixed Use and Commercial zones. Every STR needs a city Short-Term Rental Business License ($200/year, non-transferable, only the legal property owner may apply) before operating, advertising, or being listed. ADUs may only operate as partial-home rentals, requiring the owner to live on the property.
Wheat Ridge is a small first-ring Denver suburb in Jefferson County, population 32,070, functioning as a value-priced lodging base for visitors exploring metro Denver and the Front Range foothills, about 10 minutes from downtown Denver.
StaySTRA tracks Wheat Ridge’s ADR, occupancy, and revenue at a shared regional level with a large, genuinely coherent Denver metro cluster: Arvada, Aurora, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Denver, Englewood, Littleton, and Parker, all verified Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area cities. In June 2026, the Denver metro area STR market posted a blended ADR of $201.82 and 78.4% occupancy, with average monthly revenue of $4,298/listing. Revenue is roughly flat year over year (up 0.81%), while occupancy is down 2.31 percentage points and ADR is down 3.89%.
Bedroom mix, listing-type breakdown, and the top-property-manager list are tracked at the same shared regional level rather than uniquely for Wheat Ridge, so this profile omits those breakdowns.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy |
|---|---|
| Jan | 58% |
| Feb | 65% |
| Mar | 68% |
| Apr | 67% |
| May | 71% |
| Jun | 81% |
| Jul | 80% |
| Aug | 76% |
| Sep | 73% |
| Oct | 69% |
| Nov | 61% |
| Dec | 62% |
Month-by-month nightly rates and revenue figures for Wheat Ridge are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Denver market area
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape. Operator data is published for the Denver market as a whole, which includes Wheat Ridge, so these counts are not Wheat Ridge-only figures.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evolve | 276 | 10,485 | ★ 4.65 |
| 2 | Atomic Vacation Rentals | 142 | 9,929 | ★ 4.84 |
| 3 | Effortless Rental Group | 137 | 10,713 | ★ 4.77 |
| 4 | VacayPlay | 83 | 5,410 | ★ 4.39 |
| 5 | Homes with Hospitality LLC | 81 | 853 | ★ 4.94 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Wheat Ridge?
Revenue and nightly-rate breakdowns by bedroom count, property tier, and dwelling type for Wheat Ridge are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 58.8% |
| vrbo | 4.3% |
| both | 36.9% |
Home Value Trends (Wheat Ridge)
Typical home values, median sale prices, and the 10-year price trend for Wheat Ridge are available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Booking Insights
Booking-window and length-of-stay analysis for Wheat Ridge — how far ahead guests book and how to price around it — is available to StaySTRA Pro members. Unlock with StaySTRA Pro or analyze a specific address free.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Wheat Ridge’s STR ordinance took effect May 1, 2021 and requires every short-term rental to hold a city Short-Term Rental Business License before operating, advertising, or being listed. Licenses cost $200 annually and are non-transferable; only the legal property owner may apply (a deed copy is required for newly purchased properties). Licenses split into two types: whole-home (non-owner-occupied) and partial-home (owner-occupied).
Whole-home licenses are capped per City Council district at 2% of single- and two-unit dwellings in that district, set annually as of November 1, 2021. Districts I, II, and IV have been at capacity, while District III has had limited availability. Owner-occupied partial-home STRs are exempt from the cap, as are STRs in Mixed Use and Commercial zones. ADUs may be used only as partial-home rentals, meaning the owner must live on-site; on May 13, 2025 the City Council reaffirmed this authority in light of Colorado HB24-1152 (which limits owner-occupancy mandates for ADUs generally).
Hosts must collect and remit a 10% city lodgers’ tax on all completed reservations, filed monthly. Operational rules require posting the license inside the unit, including the license number in every online listing, and notifying property owners within 100 feet by mail within seven days of issuance. Operating without a license is unlawful. Enforcement is rated moderate: license-driven with district caps, tax compliance, and neighbor-notice requirements, but no nightly cap or blanket primary-residence mandate for whole-home rentals.
Market Comparison
The Denver metro area STR market’s June 2026 occupancy of 78.4% runs well above the commonly cited US STR median of roughly 55%, while its $201.82 blended ADR sits below the roughly $220 US median, a high-occupancy, value-rate profile.
Top-property-manager data is not currently published uniquely for Wheat Ridge in this snapshot (tracked at a shared regional level with the broader Denver metro cluster instead), so this profile omits a named-operator comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions About Wheat Ridge, Colorado
Can I get a whole-home short-term rental license in Wheat Ridge, CO?
What license does a Wheat Ridge short-term rental need?
What is the average daily rate for short-term rentals near Wheat Ridge, CO?
Does Wheat Ridge require owner-occupancy for ADU rentals?
What is the gross yield on a Wheat Ridge short-term rental?
What taxes apply to short-term rentals in Wheat Ridge?
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