Living in Elizabeth or Franktown, CO means trading traffic and city noise for wide open land, actual starry nights, and a slower pace of life. The commute to Denver runs roughly 45 to 70 minutes depending on where you're headed, you'll need a car (plural, actually), and amenities are fewer but the space is real. If that trade-off sounds appealing, you're not alone. Elbert County is one of Colorado's fastest-growing counties right now.
So what's actually drawing people out here?
It's not complicated. People are tired. Tired of the noise, the density, the neighbor who parks three inches from your driveway. They want land. They want to see their kids play outside without worrying about traffic. They want a front porch that actually faces something other than another house.
Elbert County gives you that. According to U.S. Census Bureau data via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (updated March 2026), Elbert County's population reached 30,534 in 2025, up from 27,164 in 2021. World Population Review estimates 31,724 residents in 2026, reflecting roughly 37% growth since 2010. That's not random. People are voting with their moving trucks.
Elizabeth and Franktown sit at the center of that growth, and both have their own personality worth knowing before you start daydreaming about which fence posts to put up first.
What's it actually like in Elizabeth, CO?
Elizabeth has a real downtown. It's small, don't get me wrong, but there's a grocery store, a few local restaurants, a feed store, a hardware store, and a handful of small businesses that make it feel like an actual town and not just a dot on a map. It's the kind of place where people wave at each other and the local high school football game is a genuine community event.
If you're coming from Denver, Elizabeth is going to feel refreshingly uncomplicated. The roads are straighter, the parking is free, and nobody's honking at you because you stopped to let a horse trailer turn.
The trade-off? For anything beyond the basics, you're driving. Target, Costco, a wider restaurant selection, those all require a trip to Parker or Castle Rock, which runs about 20 to 30 minutes each way depending on the day.
What's different about Franktown?
The character of the community
Franktown is smaller and feels it. There's no real downtown core. What you get is land, privacy, and a community that mostly knows each other by name. It sits right along CO-86 between Elizabeth and Castle Rock, which actually makes it a pretty strategic location if you're commuting west.
What home prices look like
Franktown home prices reflect just how desirable that combination has become. Per Orchard.com data from REColorado MLS (2025), homes in Franktown sold at a median price of $1,137,000, up 9.9% year-over-year. NeighborhoodScout (March 2026) notes that Franktown consistently ranks among the most expensive real estate markets not just in Colorado but nationally. This isn't a hidden gem anymore. It's a known quantity.
For what it's worth, the broader Elbert County median property value was $709,800 in 2024, a 6.8% increase from the prior year and more than double the national median of $332,700, according to Data USA citing U.S. Census Bureau ACS data.
| Location | Median Home Value | Year-Over-Year Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franktown, CO | $1,137,000 | +9.9% | Orchard.com / REColorado MLS, 2025 |
| Elbert County, CO | $709,800 | +6.8% | Data USA / U.S. Census Bureau ACS, 2024 |
| National Median | $332,700 | N/A | Data USA / U.S. Census Bureau ACS, 2024 |
Let's be honest about the commute
How long does it actually take?
This is where I see the most wishful thinking from people considering the move. The commute is real, and you need to actually reckon with it before you fall in love with a property.
From Elizabeth, expect roughly 20 to 30 minutes to Parker, 20 to 30 minutes to Castle Rock, 40 to 55 minutes to the Denver Tech Center, and 45 to 70 minutes to central Denver, per DenverSeek (March 2026) and the Independence Community Blog (May 2025). Those numbers are for normal traffic. During peak hours on CO-86, Parker Road, or I-25, you can add time.
What about public transit?
Elbert County residents average a 41.3 minute commute and 3 vehicles per household, according to Data USA (2024). That second number isn't a coincidence. There's no public transit out here. Franktown has none, and Elizabeth's options are limited. Your closest RTD light rail and bus access is in Parker or Lone Tree, and some residents do drive to those park-and-rides to catch the train into the city. But that adds steps, and steps add time.
If you work remotely even a few days a week, this math changes completely in your favor. If you're expected in an office in downtown Denver five days a week, be honest with yourself about whether an hour-plus commute each way is sustainable long term.
What about the land itself?
This is the part that genuinely excites people, and for good reason. Elbert County zoning is set up for real acreage living. Agricultural (A) zoned areas require a minimum lot size of 10 acres, and Rural Residential (RR) zones require a minimum of 5 acres, with minimum lot widths of 300 and 200 feet respectively, per Elbert County's zoning ordinance.
That means your neighbors aren't right on top of you. You're not sharing a fence line six inches from your back door. You can have horses. You can have chickens. You can have a garden that actually gets sunlight from all directions. For people coming from a Denver suburb where your backyard is roughly the size of a king-sized comforter, this is a genuinely big deal.
But land also means responsibility. Well and septic are common out here. Snow removal on longer driveways. Longer response times from emergency services. These aren't dealbreakers, they're just things you want to understand before you sign.
Is rural living actually for you?
It's not for everyone — and that's okay
Honestly? It's not for everyone, and that's okay. I'd rather you know that upfront than find out after moving day.
If you love having walkable restaurants, spontaneous errand runs, and the ability to call a plumber who shows up in two hours, rural Elbert County is going to test your patience sometimes. Supply and demand for tradespeople works a little differently when you're not in a densely populated area.
What this place does deliver
But if you've been craving space, quiet, a community where people actually know each other, and a property that finally feels like it has room to breathe, this part of Colorado delivers in a way that's hard to describe until you've stood on the land yourself.
I'm Chelsea Pruitt, and I work with buyers across Elbert County, Elizabeth, Franktown, and the surrounding eastern plains communities every day. The questions you're asking right now are exactly the right ones, and I genuinely love helping people figure out whether this lifestyle fits them before they take the leap.
If you're curious about what's available out here, reach out. No pressure, no pitch. Just a real conversation about what you're looking for and whether Elizabeth or Franktown might actually be the right fit.