Littleton is a
Home Rule Municipality in
Arapahoe County and
Jefferson County in the
U.S. state of
Colorado. Littleton is a suburb of the
Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area. Littleton is the
county seat of
Arapahoe County and the
17th most populous city in the
State of Colorado. The population was 40,342 at the
2000 census.
Littleton became widely known in 1999 when the
Columbine High School massacre occurred at nearby
Columbine High School, which some in the news media erroneously reported as being located in the city. The school is actually located in
Columbine, an
unincorporated community in
Jefferson County, yet in a
ZIP code associated primarily with Littleton. The school is included in the Jefferson County school system, and not one of the
Littleton Public Schools.
The Colorado Center for the Blind, a skills training program for blind teenagers and adults operated by the
National Federation of the Blind, is located in Littleton. The Denver Theological Seminary is also in Littleton.
Intelligent Vehicle Safety Technologies' "Desert Tortoise," a competitor in the
DARPA Grand Challenge, is based in Littleton.
The city is also the site of the grave of
Alferd Packer, an American
prospector. He is one of three people imprisoned in the
United States for
cannibalism.
Geography
Littleton is located at (39.599691, -105.010929).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.9
square miles (36.1
km²), of which, 13.5 square miles (35.0 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.1 km²) of it (2.95%) is water.
Littleton is a
suburb south of
Denver, on the west side of
I-25. Since July 2000, it has been served by the
Regional Transportation District's
light rail system.
Demographics
''Section source: Census
As of the
census of 2000, there were 40,340 people, 17,313 households, and 10,387 families residing in the city. The
population density was 2,984.8 people per square mile (1,152.0/km²). There were 18,084 housing units at an average density of 1,338.0/sq mi (516.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.77%
White, 1.16%
African American, 0.73%
Native American, 1.66%
Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander, 2.67% from
other races, and 1.95% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 8.45% of the population.
There were 17,313 households out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% were
married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. 33.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $50,583, and the median income for a family was $64,671. Males had a median income of $43,698 versus $33,377 for
females. The per capita income for the city was $28,681. About 3.9% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 7.5% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Points of interest
Sister cities
Neighboring communities with Littleton ZIP codes
The place name "Littleton" is assigned to eleven
ZIP codes which cover a vast area west, east and south of the city that is much larger than the city itself. Thus the following
unincorporated communities have "Littleton addresses":
See also
