Lone Tree, Colorado
Moving to Lone Tree
What it costs, how a small city with a big daytime population actually runs, where people live on both sides of I-25, how the DCSD feeders work, and what to do on your first weekend. Every number checked at the source.
By Connor Tien, DougCo Social · Updated September 2026 · Photo: City of Lone Tree
← All Douglas County towns, compared
Lone Tree packs a lot into under 10 square miles: about 15,000 people, a workforce of more than 25,000, Park Meadows, a 304-bed hospital, five light rail stations, an arts center the City owns, and a 3,500-acre master plan called RidgeGate whose east side is turning into neighborhoods, a regional park, a King Soopers and a new elementary school. It is also a real city, incorporated in 1995, with its own police department and a trash truck that comes for free. The five guides under this page are the long version: the cost of living from the Census, the schools from the district, the services from whoever provides them, and the fun stuff from the people who run it. If a fact has a number, its source is listed at the bottom.
The Lone Tree Guides
Start with the moving guide, then go where your questions are.
Photo: City of Lone Tree
Moving to Lone Tree
Cost of living from the Census, a city with its own police and free trash pickup, which water district you are in, the 2.5 percent city sales tax, five light rail stations and a free ride service.
Read the moving guide →Photo: City of Lone Tree
Lone Tree Neighborhoods
West of I-25 (Heritage Hills, Carriage Club, Centennial Ridge, Acres Green, the Fairways) and east of it (RidgeGate, Lyric, Montecito, Northsky): who your water district is, which HOAs and metro districts exist, and what is nearby.
Photo: City of Lone Tree
Lone Tree Schools
The DCSD schools with Lone Tree addresses (Eagle Ridge, Lone Tree Elementary, Eagle Academy), the Highlands Ranch feeders most of the city is assigned to, the new Lyric elementary opening in 2027, and how enrollment works.
Photo: Lone Tree Arts Center
Things to Do in Lone Tree
The Rec Center and Cook Creek Pool, the Bluffs loop, an Arnold Palmer course, the Arts Center, Park Meadows, Schweiger Ranch, where to eat and drink, and the events the City puts on every year.
Photo: DougCo Social
New Resident Checklist
Driver license in 30 days, plates in 90, emissions, voter registration, DougCoAlert, your water district, free city trash, the library, your South Suburban account and the local stuff, in order.
Lone Tree at a Glance
The numbers, each with its year and its source.
Local tip: Two population numbers float around for Lone Tree and both are honest: the Census Bureau's 2025 estimate (15,278) and the City's own "more than 15,000." Anything quoting a decline since 2020 is out of date; the estimate is up 7.8 percent.
Who Runs What
A city hall for the city stuff, and a district for almost everything else.
Local tip: The question that trips up newcomers here is the water bill: which side of I-25 you live on decides which district sends it. The moving guide walks through who bills you for what.
Why People Land Here
The short version of what the city was built around.
Access comes up first, and the City leads with it too: 20 miles to downtown Denver, I-25, C-470 and E-470 all touching the city, and five RTD light rail stations, County Line at Park Meadows, Lincoln, Sky Ridge, Lone Tree City Center and RidgeGate Parkway, with the E Line to Union Station and the R Line to Aurora and the airport train. Add a free on-demand ride service (Link On Demand, Monday through Saturday) that covers the whole city, and you can live here with fewer car trips than anywhere else in the county.
Then it is the stuff a city of 15,000 does not usually have. Park Meadows, which the City calls Colorado's largest regional shopping mall and which its owner lists at 185 stores and restaurants, was annexed in 2007. Sky Ridge Medical Center opened in 2003 with what is now 304 beds and a Level II trauma center. The Lone Tree Arts Center, owned and operated by the City since it opened in 2011, has a 500-seat main stage, a 200-seat event hall and a 350-seat outdoor terrace theater. South Suburban runs a 55,000-square-foot recreation center, an eight-lane outdoor pool and an Arnold Palmer golf course inside the city limits.
And then there is RidgeGate. Voters approved annexing the 3,500-acre property in 2000, the first residents moved in east of I-25 in 2023, and the City posts a status page for nearly every project out there: Shea Homes' Lyric neighborhood with The Groove at its center, High Note Regional Park, which broke ground on April 29, 2026 with a 200-seat beer garden in the plan, a King Soopers Marketplace under construction, a new elementary school opening in August 2027, and the Justice Center the police and court moved into on September 14, 2026. The ranch it all sits on, the Schweigers' 1874 homestead, is still there as a restored historic site that hosts the City's Fall Festival and Oktoberfest. We keep the running list at what's being built in Douglas County.
Explore Lone Tree
The rest of the site, sorted for a newcomer.
Moving somewhere else in the county? We have guides for Castle Rock, Parker, Highlands Ranch and Castle Pines.
FAQ
Yes, a home-rule city with its own mayor and City Council. Residents voted to incorporate in 1995 (676 in favor, 165 opposed) and the first City Council met in June 1996, per the City's own history page. The City runs its own police department (at the new Justice Center on High Note Avenue since September 14, 2026), public works, municipal court, the Lone Tree Arts Center and a free trash and recycling program for single-family homes. Parks and recreation come from South Suburban Parks and Recreation, fire from South Metro Fire Rescue, water from three districts and schools from Douglas County School District.
The Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 estimate is 15,278 people, up 7.8 percent from the April 2020 base; the 2020 count was 14,253 and the 2010 count was 10,218. The city covers 9.81 square miles (Census, 2020). The City itself says more than 15,000 residents and a workforce of more than 25,000, and its history page puts the daytime population near 30,000.
Per the American Community Survey (2020-2024), the median value of an owner-occupied home in Lone Tree is $874,100, median monthly owner costs are $3,353 with a mortgage and $898 without, and median gross rent is $2,139. Median household income over the same period is $123,741 in 2024 dollars. Two things run the other way: the City levies no municipal property tax, and its sales tax is 2.5 percent.
Yes. The City counts five RTD light rail stations serving Lone Tree: County Line (at Park Meadows), Lincoln, Sky Ridge, Lone Tree City Center and RidgeGate Parkway. The E Line runs to Union Station and the R Line to Aurora with a connection to the A Line to Denver International Airport. The City's history page dates the light rail extension into RidgeGate to 2019. Park-n-Ride spaces per the City: 388 at County Line, 1,734 at Lincoln, 1,300 at RidgeGate Parkway.
Douglas County School District. Every address has an assigned neighborhood school, and families can apply to any other DCSD school through open enrollment. The schools with Lone Tree addresses are Eagle Ridge Elementary, Lone Tree Elementary (a magnet school) and Eagle Academy; the City lists Cresthill Middle School and Highlands Ranch High School as the schools serving Lone Tree, and a new K-5 elementary opens in the Lyric neighborhood in August 2027.
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Sources
Every figure on this page was read at the source on September 30, 2026. Population and housing numbers are the Census Bureau's; the history, taxes, providers and station counts are the City's; recreation is South Suburban's; school groupings are the district's. Photos are the City of Lone Tree's, used with credit, plus our own.
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Lone Tree city (V2025 estimate; 2020 and 2010 counts; ACS 2020-2024): census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/lonetreecitycolorado/PST045224
- City of Lone Tree, City History: cityoflonetree.com/about-us/city-history/
- City of Lone Tree, About Us: cityoflonetree.com/about-us/
- City of Lone Tree, Community Profile: cityoflonetree.com/economic-development/community-profile/
- City of Lone Tree, Taxing and Business Licensing (2.5 percent sales tax): cityoflonetree.com/finance/taxing-and-business-licensing/
- City of Lone Tree, Utility Providers: cityoflonetree.com/utility-providers/
- City of Lone Tree, Trash and Recycling: cityoflonetree.com/public-works/trash-and-recycling/
- City of Lone Tree, Transportation (five light rail stations, park-n-ride counts): cityoflonetree.com/transportation/
- City of Lone Tree, Police Department: cityoflonetree.com/police/
- City of Lone Tree, Facilities: cityoflonetree.com/facilities/
- City of Lone Tree, Lone Tree Arts Center: cityoflonetree.com/lone-tree-arts-center/
- City of Lone Tree, Schools: cityoflonetree.com/schools/
- South Suburban Parks and Recreation, About Us (serves the City of Lone Tree): ssprd.org/about-us
- Douglas County, Bluffs Regional Park and Trail: douglasco.gov/parks-trails-building-grounds/parks-trails/bluffs-regional-park-and-trail/
- Douglas County Libraries, Locations: dcl.org/locations/
- Douglas County School District, Elementary Schools: dcsdk12.org/schools-academics/schools/elementary-schools
- DCSD, Elementary School in Lyric (opens August 2027): funding.dcsdk12.org/2024-bond/school-construction/elementary-school-in-lyric
- South Metro Fire Rescue, About Us: southmetro.org/about-us
- HCA HealthONE Sky Ridge (opened 2003, 304 beds, Level II trauma): healthonecares.com/locations/sky-ridge-medical-center
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