Welcome to Aurora ...

The city of Aurora is primarily located in Arapahoe County<1>. A portion of Aurora extends into Adams County and Douglas County.

Aurora was established in 1891 and was incorporated May 5, 1903.

From Place Names in Colorado,<2> the origin of Aurora is described as "Means 'Dawn' or 'Morning'"

When the people of Aurora refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Auroran<3>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Aurora has a population of 385,623 people<4> (see below for details).

The community of Aurora is 5,600 feet [1,707 m] above sea level.<5> In other words, the altitude of Aurora is about 1 mile [or ~1¾ km] above sea level.

Time Zone: Aurora lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time

Telephone area codes for Aurora: (303) & (720)<6>

The ZIP codes for Aurora: 80010-80019, 80040-80042, 80044-80047<7>

Websites for Aurora ...

Chamber of Commerce:   www.aurorachamber.org/

Although we don't have any websites that are specific to Aurora, the following might be of interest:

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Aurora had an population of 385,623 people. This is an increase of 18.62% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 39.52% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Aurora had a population of 325,078 people (or 56.56% of the total population of Arapahoe County). This makes Aurora the county's most populous community.

The population of Aurora represents 6.46% of the population of Colorado (which has 5,029,196 people), making it the state's 3rd most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 325,078 people, the population of Aurora increased 17.61% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 276,393 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Aurora.

Communities Also Named Aurora ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 44 communities that are also named Aurora - they are located in Alabama, Alaska (2), Arkansas, California, Florida (2), Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa (2), Kansas (7), Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota (2), Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico (3), New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas (2), Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin (2) and Wyoming.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Aurora.

Communities near Aurora ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Aurora.

• Denver
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denver
  • Denver is located in Denver County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 735,538 people
  • Former names for Denver:
  • Auraina
  • Denver City
  • Montana City
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Denver <8>
• Lakewood
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakewood have been provided by the GNIS.<9> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood
  • Lakewood is located in Jefferson County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 157,429 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lakewood <8>
• Thornton
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thornton have been provided by the GNIS.<9> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornton
  • Thornton is located in Adams County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 148,113 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thornton <8>
• Arvada
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arvada
  • Arvada is located in Jefferson County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 121,936 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arvada <8>
• Westminster
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westminster
  • Westminster is located in Adams County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 115,046 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westminster <8>
• Centennial
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centennial
  • Centennial is located in Arapahoe County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 110,156 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Centennial <8>
• Broomfield
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Broomfield have been provided by the GNIS.<9> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broomfield
  • Broomfield is located in Broomfield County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 72,236 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Broomfield <8>
• Commerce City
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Commerce City have been provided by the GNIS.<9> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commerce City
  • Commerce City is located in Adams County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 59,317 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Commerce City <8>
• Parker
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parker
  • Parker is located in Douglas County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 58,673 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parker <8>
• Littleton
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Littleton
  • Littleton is located in Arapahoe County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 46,000 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Littleton <8>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Aurora. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Aurora.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Aurora. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Aurora.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Aurora. See our Newspapers Page for Aurora.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Aurora ...

Looking for more information about Aurora? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Aurora, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Aurora.

Adding Aurora to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Aurora in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Aurora was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

We also found Aurora on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Colorado (1947).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Aurora.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Aurora: www.auroragov.org; www.ci.aurora.co.us/

The official website for Arapahoe County: www.co.arapahoe.co.us/

The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/