Denver locksmith questions, answered

The door takes minutes; getting to the door is what you're buying. Somebody has to keep a van stocked with key blanks and a programmer, drive it from wherever the shop is to wherever you are, and pick up the phone at 11 p.m. In a metro that sprawls from Arvada to Aurora, that drive is a real cost. Fixr's survey has a house lockout at $50 to $175. Car work climbs because the key is itself a chip that has to be programmed; Kelley Blue Book prices a push-button start key at $200 to $400. A high quote deserves a second opinion. A suspiciously low one on the phone is the more dangerous of the two.

Nearly all of them. Fixr's national numbers show $25 to $100 just for the trip, a $100 to $200 minimum for a service call, and $150 to $250 more for nights and holidays. A fair quote folds that fee into the single figure you hear on the phone. When a caller says $19 or $29 and goes quiet, you've been quoted the fee, and the labor is a surprise for later.

Denver has no published local price list, so the national surveys are what we have. Fixr's January 2025 survey has the typical locksmith bill near $150, and most landing somewhere from $100 to $200. By Fixr's job ranges, getting into a locked house is $50 to $175, a locked car $80 to $150, and a rekey $70 to $160 for the visit. Where you are matters here: a shop in Lakewood driving to Green Valley Ranch is crossing the whole metro. Get one figure that already covers that drive.

Thumbtack's survey has labor at $57 to $87 an hour. Hardly anyone bills a residential job that way, though. Lockouts and rekeys are flat-priced, with a trip or service-call charge of $25 to $100 on top by Fixr's numbers. Ask what the job costs. Hourly rates show up mainly on larger commercial installs.

A child or an animal shut inside a car or a house is a 911 call, regardless of money. For everything else, work through the free options: every door and window you can reach safely, then whoever has a spare. Tenants should call the landlord or the building. Your auto insurance, a roadside club or a credit card may already pay for a lockout. Still need a locksmith? Ask for the full figure and whether a card is fine, and if you have somewhere warm to wait, wait for business hours; Fixr puts the night premium at $150 to $250.

Fixr's floor is around $50 for a house lockout and about $80 for a car. When the phone quote is $19 or $29, that's the trip charge talking. The FTC and the BBB have both written up the routine: a tiny number on the phone, then a much bigger bill once the door is open. Ask what the job costs with labor in it.

If the locks work fine, rekeying wins, because the hardware stays and only the pins inside change. Fixr's figures: $70 to $160 a visit to rekey, $150 to $550 to replace. In a pre-war Denver house, though, a deadbolt that grinds is often worth swapping while the locksmith is already standing there.

On most cars, yes. A mobile locksmith carrying the right programmer plugs into the car where it sits, pairs a new fob or chip key, and wipes any lost key out of the car's memory. Fixr's range for fob or transponder programming is $50 to $200. A handful of newer and high-end models are still dealer-only, so give the year and model when you call and you'll know before a van leaves.

For nearly every house lock and most cars, yes. On a car, the locksmith cuts the blade from the key code tied to the VIN and programs the chip or fob on the spot, though some newer or luxury models still mean a dealer visit. Have the registration handy and give the exact model. On a house, they get you in and then rekey or cut a fresh key.

Usually. Kelley Blue Book puts the locksmith savings at 10% to 25% versus a dealer, and the locksmith drives to the car, which matters a lot when the car can't be driven anywhere without a key. A few newer models are dealer-only.

Normally the building issues those. Entry fobs live on the building's access system, and management can kill a lost one, which no copy can do. Some kiosks and key shops will clone a basic fob, but plenty of leases forbid it. Ask the office first.

Probably just the battery. Coin cells sag in the cold, and DIA averages 6 nights below zero a year (NOAA). Most fobs hide a metal blade that opens the driver's door, and many push-button cars will start if you hold the fob right against the start button. If a new battery doesn't bring it back, it may need reprogramming or replacing.

Per Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for May 2025, a Colorado locksmith's median pay is $47,500 a year, across about 380 jobs statewide. The Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro accounts for about 200 of them, at a median of $48,560, with the top tenth above $75,910. Those are wage earners only; people who own their shop don't show up. Separately, the Census counted 41 locksmith businesses in the metro in 2023, and none had as many as 20 employees.

That depends on two addresses, yours and theirs. Metro Denver is big, and I-25 at rush hour or I-70 on a ski Sunday can add a lot. Ask for an arrival window on the same call where you get the price. Opening the door usually takes minutes; a car key that has to be cut and programmed takes longer.

Some locksmith businesses around Denver answer late and on weekends, and some go home at six. Night work carries a premium, roughly $150 to $250 extra by Fixr's survey. Ask if they can come now and what the whole thing will cost. From November to March, don't stand on the porch: DIA averages 152 nights a year at or below freezing (NOAA). Wait in a running car or at a neighbor's.

No, and Denver has no city license for it either. The Colorado Legislative Council lists more than 100 jobs that need a state license or registration, most of them overseen by DORA's Division of Professions and Occupations, and locksmith isn't on the list. That leaves the company itself to vet. Look up its legal or trade name in the Secretary of State's business search, get the full price in writing before the work, and keep an itemized invoice carrying that same name.

A careful locksmith wants to see that the home or car is yours before opening it or cutting a key. For a house or apartment, that's photo ID with the address. If your license still shows your last place, which happens a lot in a city where 39% of households moved in since 2020, bring the lease, a utility bill or closing papers. For a car, registration and ID. Proof locked inside? Mention it on the call; many locksmiths open up and then check the paperwork before they leave.

Colorado gives you no license to look up, so check the business instead. Get its legal or trade name and search it in the Secretary of State's database. Get the whole price on the phone, expect to show ID, and leave with an itemized invoice that has that name printed on it. Back away from a phone answered only as 'locksmith service,' a car with no markings, or an early push to drill an ordinary lock.

The FTC and the BBB describe the same tells: nobody says a company name on the phone, the quote has no labor in it, the vehicle is unmarked, and the price climbs once work begins. The Associated Locksmiths of America adds one more, an eagerness to drill a standard lock. See any of them and stop before work starts; you owe, at most, the trip fee you agreed to. Report it to the Colorado Attorney General at Stop Fraud Colorado, 1-800-222-4444.

A locksmith business that works your part of the metro, and isn't us. Denver Key Line only routes the request so you skip the listings maze. The business sets the price and does the job, and it pays us for the introduction. You pay us nothing.

It did. Denver police logged 15,192 stolen vehicles in 2022, about 42 a day and 7.4 times the national rate, against 3,230 in 2010. The count has since dropped to 5,551 in 2025, which is still 3.8 times the national rate (FBI Crime Data Explorer). Every year is on our data page.

Denver 311 handles city services at 720-913-1311. Anything urgent, including a kid or a pet stuck in a car, is 911. For a locksmith, (720) 802-2054.

Close to half. In the 28 Denver ZIPs on our data page, 52% of households rent, and Belcaro edge, Glendale (80246) reaches 80% (Census ACS 2020-2024). A tenant's lock belongs to the landlord, so call them first, and get permission before any rekey.