Fort Collins, Colorado

Area Profile

170,229 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Fort Collins, in Larimer County.

65out of 100
Area Score
Top 29% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 37% of 4,199 cities measured62
SchoolsTop 17% of 4,162 cities measured76
GrowthTop 23% of 4,224 cities measured64
Housing affordability3,413th of 4,218 cities measured49
Climate3,989th of 4,225 cities measured55
Physical resilienceTop 36% of 4,226 cities measured69
AccessTop 3% of 4,226 cities measured100
Economic stabilityTop 27% of 4,226 cities measured69
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.7% and median household income $85,070, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

Public schools test above most of the state: 53% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 17% of published profiles for schools.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 1,614 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 67% 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
170,229
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$85,070
Top 29% nationally
Density
2,974/sq mi
57.2 sq mi of land
Median age
30.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Colorado
Nearest major airport
FNL
7 mi · Northern Colorado Rgnl
Median home value
$577,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.7%, lower than in 74% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.7% over the past year, to 94,584 employed residents.

61% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 94% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsLarimer County, CO’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$76,71658th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftLarimer County, CO’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$71,65450th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,4682024 ACS 5-Year$85,070Top 29%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1172024 ACS 5-Year$47,458Top 20%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.3%Top 40%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.3 minTop 23%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year60.7%Top 6%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year62.2%15th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202694,584Top 43%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−3.2%Bottom 12%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.7%Top 49%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202698,17857th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year84.9%Top 25%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageFort Collins-Loveland, CO Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$70,620Top 45%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageFort Collins-Loveland, CO Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$55,310Top 33%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%86th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 20260.0%Bottom 45%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.7%Top 26%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year22.0%88th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.92.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.7% 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

202120222023202485k73k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $85,070 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 — Fort Collins-Loveland, CO

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers5,770$34,850
Retail Salespersons5,400$36,640
Cashiers3,670$35,980
Stockers and Order Fillers2,810$40,280
Waiters and Waitresses2,740$47,360
General and Operations Managers2,510$105,770

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.

53% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 65% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.3 students for every full-time teacher across 48 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
48
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
52.7%
Top 16% in Colorado
Reading proficiency
65.3%
Top 16% in Colorado
The 12 largest of 48 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Rocky Mountain High SchoolPoudre School District R-12,04419.753%71%
Fossil Ridge High SchoolPoudre School District R-11,84619.468%86%
Fort Collins High SchoolPoudre School District R-11,83618.755%74%
Liberty Common Charter School · charterPoudre School District R-11,51619.775%86%
Poudre High SchoolPoudre School District R-11,40916.644%60%
Colorado Early Colleges Fort Collins · charterState Charter School Institute97124.948%68%
Lesher Middle SchoolPoudre School District R-176618.750%57%
Kinard Core Knowledge Middle SchoolPoudre School District R-176219.174%78%
Webber Middle SchoolPoudre School District R-172817.852%55%
Ridgeview Classical Schools · charterPoudre School District R-172115.350%72%
Ascent Classical Academy of Northern Colorado · charterState Charter School Institute62117.3——
Preston Middle SchoolPoudre School District R-156816.762%65%

37.0% 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 3% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 97.3, 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 Fort Collins-Loveland, CO Metro Area is up 29% over five years, and up 0.2% 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 $2,875 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.50% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,732, close to the $1,690 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,732 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $69,300 a year, about 81% of the median household income here of $85,070.

The typical renter household here spends 34% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,690 a month.

A median home at $577,900 costs 4.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $127,625, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
97.3

Prices here run about 3% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Fort Collins-Loveland, 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
33.7%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,732
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,690
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$577,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Fort Collins’s median household income of $85,070, 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 Fort Collins-Loveland, CO Metro Area’s figure202397.3Top 34%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Fort Collins-Loveland, CO Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+0.2%9th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Fort Collins-Loveland, CO Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+29.3%15th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Fort Collins-Loveland, CO Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+82.7%36th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year4.5Bottom 12%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year51.6%11th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±8382024 ACS 5-Year74,55899th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,537Bottom 41%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,385Bottom 38%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,732Bottom 45%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$222024 ACS 5-Year$1,690Bottom 15%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,3812024 ACS 5-Year$577,90091st percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$472024 ACS 5-Year$2,87571st percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,6712024 ACS 5-Year$127,625Top 12%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.01%2024 ACS 5-Year0.50%11th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year33.7%Bottom 24%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1632024 ACS 5-Year37196th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%56th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.2%28th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5002024 ACS 5-Year2,79098th percentileof 32,3302024 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

64/ 100
Top 23% of 4,224 published city 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 1% since 2020, reaching 170,924 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 1,313 units authorized in 2025, up 92% on the prior year.

71% of the 1,614 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show Larimer County, which contains Fort Collins, gained about 0.3% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $76,716, above the $71,654 of households that moved out.

At 9.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1,614
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
9.5
Top 13% nationally
Year over year
+67%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
71.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024171k169k
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 holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
56%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$76,716
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$71,654
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Weld County, CO 3,184 people · 15% of arrivals
  2. Boulder County, CO 1,464 people · 6.7% of arrivals
  3. Jefferson County, CO 770 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  4. Denver County, CO 755 people · 3.4% of arrivals
  5. Adams County, CO 717 people · 3.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Weld County, CO 4,567 people · 22% of departures
  2. Boulder County, CO 1,040 people · 5.0% of departures
  3. Denver County, CO 856 people · 4.1% of departures
  4. Adams County, CO 693 people · 3.3% of departures
  5. Jefferson County, CO 584 people · 2.8% 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. This is the figure for Larimer County, CO. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420251k635
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+107%).

Weather & climate

4 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 14°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 13.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 54, in the Moderate band, and about 23 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NUNN 7 NNE, 24.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND2.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year872024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals13.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals14°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year232024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year542024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals43°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
54
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
87
90th percentile index
Days above 100
23
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

69 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and wildfire, with inland flooding alone responsible for 43% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

HailElevated
WildfireElevated
TornadoElevated
EarthquakeModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
289
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,773
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Fort Collins's police department reported 289 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,773.

Larimer County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.7 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 12.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 11.6 per 100,000 residents in Larimer County.

Homicide
1.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
11.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
19.1
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Fort Collins’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Fort Collins (Larimer County) rather than Fort Collins itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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

8 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Northern Colorado Rgnl at 7 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year92.2%Top 38%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle7 miTop 16%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle8Top 7%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year2.2%Top 20%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Northern Colorado RgnlFNL7 mi8,500 ft
Greeley-Weld CountyGXY24 mi10,000 ft
Cheyenne Rgnl/Jerry Olson FldCYS44 mi9,270 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
65
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Other cities in Fort Collins-Loveland, CO

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
LovelandLarimer County78,41058Loveland vs Fort Collins
BerthoudLarimer County12,41167Berthoud vs Fort Collins
WellingtonLarimer County11,79861Wellington vs Fort Collins

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Fort Collins side by side with a similar place.

Fort Collins vs HendersonFort Collins vs Enterprise

Moving to Fort Collins from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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 codes in Fort Collins

6 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Fort Collins with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Fort Collins closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
8052554,211$91,636$588,400—
8052644,326$88,686$551,800—
8052440,030$85,035$561,400—
8052138,776$58,082$564,900—
8052824,960$130,350$705,000—
805121,903$97,837$625,000—