Pueblo, CO

Metro Area Profile

169,356 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Pueblo, CO metropolitan area.

49out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 7% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity369th of 379 published metros21
Growth768th of 821 published metros16
Housing affordability677th of 822 published metros76
Climate768th of 822 published metros53
Physical resilienceTop 24% of 822 published metros73
AccessTop 4% of 822 published metros99
Economic stability475th of 822 published metros45
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published metro profiles: unemployment is 5.6% and the Opportunity signal places Pueblo in the bottom 3%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 108 units authorized over the past twelve months, 58% below the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published metro profiles, placing Pueblo in the top 24% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
169,356
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$64,010
Bottom 40% nationally
Density
71/sq mi
2386.6 sq mi of land
Median age
40.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Pueblo, CO
Nearest major airport
PUB
9 mi · Pueblo Meml
Median home value
$291,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.6% is lower than 10% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment fell 3.3% over the past year, to 66,472 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,208$64,010Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$918$34,777Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate14.6%Top 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.8 minBottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher25.6%Top 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment66,472Bottom 25%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-5.6%Bottom 4%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-3.3%Bottom 7%June 2026
Labor force70,445Bottom 25%June 2026
Labor force participation55.4%Bottom 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$62,480Top 39%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$48,940Top 37%2025 OEWS
Metro employment61,780Bottom 28%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.1%Top 47%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.6%Top 10%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/069.33.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.6% in June 2026. 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.
Largest occupations — Pueblo, CO
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,160$31,100
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,130$35,740
Registered Nurses2,040$95,720
Retail Salespersons1,950$35,580
Cashiers1,710$34,050
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand1,410$47,100

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,111 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.6 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
20.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.6×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,111
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$291,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.55Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate68.9%Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±11373,646Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$26$1,111Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,009$291,300Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.8%Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.0%Bottom 15%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
16/ 100
Ranks 768 of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

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 169,866 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
108
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.6
Bottom 10% nationally
Year over year
−58%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024170k168k
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.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 93°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 12.0 inches, including 28.3 inches of snow.

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PUEBLO MEM AP, 8.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation12.0"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall28.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing46°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

73 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hail, wildfire and heat wave.

HailHigh
WildfireElevated
Heat waveModerate
AvalancheModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 9 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Pueblo MemlPUB9 mi10,498 ft
City of Colorado Springs MuniCOS46 mi13,500 ft
San Luis Valley Rgnl/Bergman FldALS91 mi8,521 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
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Put Pueblo side by side with a similar place.

Pueblo vs MeadvillePueblo vs CorningPueblo vs Wichita FallsPueblo vs Auburn

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.