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COMPARE Colorado CITIES

Compare city quality of life facts and figures for some of the best places to retire in Colorado.

Compare home prices, cost of living, air quality, medical care, water quality, demographics and more. Use the drop down box to make another state comparison.

blank	Boulder	Ft Collins	Durango	Aspen	Colorado Springs	Vail	99-City Avg
Colorado Cities
City Type
City Type	Mountains, College Town	Mountains, Lakes & Rivers, College Town	Mountains, Lakes & Rivers, College Town	Mountains	Mountains, College Town	Mountains, Lakes & Rivers	na
Population (2016 est.)
Population (Current)	108,090	164,207	18,503	6,871	465,101	5,483	78,040
Population (1990)	83,312	87,758	12,430	5,049	281,140	3,659	49,272
Land Area (sq mi)	25	54	10	4	195	5	36
Persons Per Square Mile	4,324	3,041	1,850	1,718	2,385	1,097	2,151
Home Prices
2018	$826,067	$414,388	$449,693	$1,422,490	$309,702	$1,143,698	$419,000
Total Appreciation ('01 to '18)	145.2%	89.9%	74.4%	35.3%	58.9%	38.0%	76.0%
Annual Appreciation ('17 to '18)	8.6%	5.4%	10.3%	13.2%	8.5%	-3.4%	6.0%
Avg Annual Appreciation ('01 to '18)	5.8%	4.1%	3.8%	2.2%	3.0%	2.7%	3.8%
Big City Prices ('18)	$450,000	$450,000	$209,000	$316,000	$450,000	$450,000	$340,000
Bargain Index	149%	75%	174%	364%	56%	206%	101%
Big City	Denver	Denver	Albuquerque	Colorado Springs	Denver	Denver	na
Monthly Rent	$2,056	$1,609	$1,517	$2,357	$1,484	$1,825	$1,495
Price/Rent Index	27.0	17.3	19.9	40.5	14.0	42.1	19.0
Cost of Living (2018)
Cost of Living	162%	111%	112%	229%	97%	189%	109%
Air Quality - Annual Avg (2001-2017)
Good Days	275	246	292	245	283	213	72%
Moderate Days	73	108	71	27	80	7	25%
Unhealthy for Sensitive Persons Days	7	11	2	1	3	0	3%
Unhealthy Days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Very Unhealthy Days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0%
Water Quality (2002-2014)
Good	65%	44%	51%	84%	67%	93%	36%
Threatened	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	2%
Impaired	35%	56%	49%	16%	33%	7%	62%
Walkability
Walk Score®	58	36	38	84	36	49	45
Nearest Large City
Distance to Nearest City	29 miles	64 miles	215 miles	154 miles	0 miles	97 miles	72 miles
City	Denver	Denver	Albuquerque	Colorado Springs	Colorado Springs	Denver	na
Recreation
National Parks	2	2	5	4	4	5	7
National Campgrounds	70	39	16	78	59	84	26
State Parks	7	5	2	6	6	1	11
Medical Care (2016)
Accredited Hospitals	4	3	2	1	8	1	4
Building Permits (single family homes)
2016	85	488	51	16	3,526	11	346
2015	127	512	89	27	2,939	15	324
Gain ('15 to '16)	-33%	-5%	-43%	-41%	20%	-27%	6%
blank	Boulder	Ft Collins	Durango	Aspen	Colorado Springs	Vail	99-City Avg

blank	Boulder	Ft Collins	Durango	Aspen	Colorado Springs	Vail	99-City Avg
Population Distribution (2010)
Median Age (yrs)	29	30	31	41	35	35	37
White	88.0%	89.0%	85.1%	93.9%	78.8%	93.4%	80.7%
Black or African American	0.9%	1.2%	0.6%	0.8%	6.3%	4.6%	7.2%
Native American Indian and Alaska Native	0.4%	0.6%	6.3%	0.3%	1.0%	0.5%	0.8%
Asian	4.7%	2.9%	0.8%	1.5%	3.0%	1.7%	3.6%
Native Hawaiian	0.1%	0.1%	0.0%	0.1%	0.3%	0.0%	0.2%
Other Race	3.2%	3.0%	4.1%	2.0%	5.5%	2.7%	4.4%
Multiple Races	2.6%	3.1%	3.0%	1.6%	5.1%	1.1%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	8.7%	10.1%	12.3%	7.5%	16.1%	7.4%	11.6%
Income and Housing (2010)
Family Income	$92,930	$73,687	$72,560	$134,732	$66,938	$96,429	$69,596
Occupied Housing	95%	96%	89%	59%	93%	36%	83%
Vacant Housing	5%	4%	11%	41%	7%	64%	17%
Home Ownership	48%	55%	48%	53%	60%	49%	55%
Persons Per Family	2.80	3.00	2.80	2.70	3.00	2.60	2.90
Taxes (2018)
Local and State	7.5%	7.5%	7.5%	7.5%	7.5%	7.5%	6.8%
Local, State and Federal	106 days	106 days	106 days	106 days	106 days	106 days	113 days
Climate - Average Temperatures (1971-2000)
Climate Type	Cool & Dry	Cool & Dry	Cool & Dry	Cool & Dry	Cool & Dry	Cool & Dry	Temperate & Humid
January Low Temp	19 F	15 F	12 F	7 F	14 F	2 F	27 F
July High Temp	87 F	86 F	85 F	77 F	81 F	75 F	86 F
Annual Precipitation	20 in	16 in	19 in	23 in	22 in	20 in	35 in
Elevation	5,484 ft	5,004 ft	6,600 ft	8,163 ft	7,078 ft	8,270 ft	1,652 ft
Natural Hazard Risk
Total Hazard Risk	Lower	Lower	Lower	Lower	Moderate	Lower	Moderate
Earthquake	.4%	.4%	1%	1%	.5%	.5%	10.9%
Tsunami	No Risk	No Risk	No Risk	No Risk	No Risk	No Risk	No Risk
Hurricane	0	0	0	0	0	0	10
Flood	Low	Very High	Moderate	Low	Very High	No Risk	Very High
Tornado	Very Low	Very Low	Very Low	Very Low	Low	Very Low	Low
Volcano	No Risk	No Risk	No Risk	No Risk	No Risk	No Risk	No Risk
Wildfire	High	High	High	High	High	High	Low
Man-Made Hazard Risk (Nuclear)
Nearby Reactors	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Crimes per 10,000 Population - Annual Avg (2001-2017)
Violent Crimes	23	30	44	25	49	28	40
Property Crimes	318	319	496	560	430	783	397
Home Energy Use - Annual Avg (1971-2000)
Heating Degree Days	5,687	6,238	6,778	8,835	7,464	10,646	4,662
Cooling Degree Days	552	497	238	35	182	0	1,253
blank	Boulder	Ft Collins	Durango	Aspen	Colorado Springs	Vail	99-City Avg

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