El Paso County, CO

County Profile

742,999 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for El Paso County, CO.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

60out of 100
Area Score
Top 47% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity782nd of 1,463 counties measured54
SchoolsTop 35% of 1,377 counties measured61
GrowthTop 26% of 1,453 counties measured63
Housing affordability1,295th of 1,462 counties measured56
Climate1,017th of 1,463 counties measured62
Physical resilience980th of 1,463 counties measured46
AccessTop 1% of 1,463 counties measured100
Economic stabilityTop 14% of 1,463 counties measured85
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.3% and median household income $90,363, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 38% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.0 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 5,387 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 30% on the prior year.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
742,999
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$90,363
Top 9% nationally
Density
349/sq mi
2,126.4 sq mi of land
Median age
35.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
El Paso County
Colorado
Nearest major airport
COS
9 mi · City of Colorado Springs Muni
Median home value
$461,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.3% — higher than in all but 42% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.9% over the past year, to 361,077 employed residents.

42% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 93% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $90,363 is higher than in 91% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$65,80566th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$66,00770th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,4012024 ACS 5-Year$90,363Top 9%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$6772024 ACS 5-Year$46,133Top 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$65,598Top 24%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year8.3%Top 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.0 minTop 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year41.9%Top 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year69.2%13th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026361,077Top 6%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.6%Bottom 30%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.9%Bottom 22%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026377,34994th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year81.4%Top 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%66th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Bottom 36%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.3%Bottom 42%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year16.8%91st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.02.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.3% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 3 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202490k76k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $90,363 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Colorado Springs, CO

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers11,470$34,420
Stockers and Order Fillers9,110$41,440
Retail Salespersons8,820$36,060
Registered Nurses6,800$96,140
Cashiers5,900$35,740
Home Health and Personal Care Aides5,730$37,530

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

38% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 54% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.0 students for every full-time teacher across 220 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
224
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.0
across 220 of them
Math proficiency
38.3%
Top 33% in Colorado
Reading proficiency
53.8%
Top 29% in Colorado
The 12 largest of 224 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Fountain-Fort Carson High SchoolFountain School District No. 8 in the county of El Paso an1,97417.335%61%
The Classical Academy Charter · charterAcademy School District No. 20 in the county of El Paso an1,90915.259%67%
Pine Creek High SchoolAcademy School District No. 20 in the county of El Paso an1,87518.956%79%
Doherty High SchoolColorado Springs School District No. 11 in the county of E1,71520.733%55%
Banning Lewis Ranch Academy · charterEl Paso County Colorado School District 491,69714.832%52%
Liberty High SchoolAcademy School District No. 20 in the county of El Paso an1,52617.546%72%
Vista Ridge High SchoolEl Paso County Colorado School District 491,47319.931%62%
Sand Creek High SchoolEl Paso County Colorado School District 491,42621.026%51%
Air Academy High SchoolAcademy School District No. 20 in the county of El Paso an1,38017.753%79%
Rampart High SchoolAcademy School District No. 20 in the county of El Paso an1,30516.949%71%
Mesa Ridge High SchoolSchool District No. 3 in the county of El Paso and State of1,30418.927%53%
Coronado High SchoolColorado Springs School District No. 11 in the county of E1,27923.733%61%

41.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Colorado’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 98.1, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area is up 23% over five years, and up 0.1% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,874 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.41% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,735, close to the $1,696 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,735 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $69,400 a year, about 77% of the median household income here of $90,363.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,696 a month.

A median home at $461,000 costs 4.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $112,487, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
98.1

Prices here run about 2% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
32.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,735
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,696
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$461,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against El Paso County’s median household income of $90,363, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area’s figure202398.1Bottom 34%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+0.1%5th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+22.8%4th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+97.7%56th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year4.1Bottom 10%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year66.2%18th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2012024 ACS 5-Year303,48297th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,464Bottom 17%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,413Bottom 9%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,735Bottom 14%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$202024 ACS 5-Year$1,696Bottom 4%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,8932024 ACS 5-Year$461,00095th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$222024 ACS 5-Year$1,87460th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,8462024 ACS 5-Year$112,487Top 8%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.01%2024 ACS 5-Year0.41%7th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year32.3%Bottom 13%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4162024 ACS 5-Year1,94184th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%16th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.7%6th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1,2152024 ACS 5-Year13,29293rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

63/ 100
Top 26% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 3% since 2020, reaching 752,772 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 5,725 units authorized in 2025, up 47% on the prior year.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across El Paso County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $65,805, close to the $66,007 of households that moved out.

At 7.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
5,387
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
7.3
Top 15% nationally
Year over year
+30%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
42.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024753k734k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
81%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$65,805
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$66,007
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Arapahoe County, CO 1,273 people · 2.6% of arrivals
  2. Douglas County, CO 1,205 people · 2.5% of arrivals
  3. Pueblo County, CO 1,145 people · 2.3% of arrivals
  4. Denver County, CO 1,040 people · 2.1% of arrivals
  5. Maricopa County, AZ 924 people · 1.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Pueblo County, CO 1,671 people · 3.4% of departures
  2. Douglas County, CO 1,213 people · 2.5% of departures
  3. Denver County, CO 1,085 people · 2.2% of departures
  4. Arapahoe County, CO 1,009 people · 2.0% of departures
  5. Maricopa County, AZ 915 people · 1.9% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420259k4k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−16%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 19°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 15.9 inches, including 32.5 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 49, in the Good band, and about 14 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station COLORADO SPRINGS MUNI AP, 8.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year802024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals15.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals32.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals19°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year142024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year492024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals41°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
49
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
80
90th percentile index
Days above 100
14
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

46 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 49% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

WildfireHigh
HailElevated

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, lightning, tornado, inland flooding, strong wind, avalanche, heat wave, earthquake, cold wave, volcanic activity, ice storm, drought, landslide, tsunami, hurricane, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

El Paso County records 3.2 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 17.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 19.6 per 100,000 residents in El Paso County.

Homicide
3.2
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.3
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
19.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
24.2
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe El Paso County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

7 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest City of Colorado Springs Muni at 9 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year94.8%Top 2%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle9 miTop 9%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle7Top 5%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year3.5%Top 3%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
City of Colorado Springs MuniCOS9 mi13,500 ft
Pueblo MemlPUB37 mi10,498 ft
CentennialAPA54 mi10,001 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
60
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.