Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetCO-BLACK-FOREST-CO · Black Forest, CO 14,658 pop · income 93rd pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Black Forest
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Black Forest on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Gladeview · lowest
44,560
Gladeview · lowest
44,560 median HH income
30.6% of the leader · rank #1
Haysville · near
142,115
Haysville · near
142,115 median HH income
97.5% of the leader · rank #2
Timberline-Fe… · near
142,135
Timberline-Fe… · near
142,135 median HH income
97.5% of the leader · rank #3
Black Forest · this city
142,173
Black Forest · this city
142,173 median HH income
97.5% of the leader · rank #4
Geneva · near
142,188
Geneva · near
142,188 median HH income
97.5% of the leader · rank #5
Burlington · near
142,207
Burlington · near
142,207 median HH income
97.5% of the leader · rank #6
Greenwood · highest
145,781
Greenwood · highest
145,781 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Black Forest on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 14,658.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Black Forest lands in the 93rd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
93rd
percentile, household income
95th
percentile, home value
68th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Black Forest, CO
Black Forest is a small town in Colorado, home to 14,658 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Black Forest brings in $142,173 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 2.3%. Home values in Black Forest run a median of $805,200, and the median resident age is 48.7 years. About 57.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 55.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 49.2°F with 19.6 inches of precipitation per year.
Colorado carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 103.1 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,429 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $202 across Colorado, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Natural-hazard exposure scores 40.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Black Forest's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to climate and hazard context; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Black Forest, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Black Forest?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Which cities make useful reference points for Black Forest?
Within Colorado, the closest population matches are Federal Heights (14,160 residents, $57,957 income); Lone Tree (14,136 residents, $125,699 income); Greenwood (15,485 residents, $145,781 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Owosso, MI (14,658 residents); Gladeview, FL (14,657 residents); Thonotosassa, FL (14,660 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
What does the journey to work look like in Black Forest?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 63.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
What physical conditions frame life in Black Forest?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 49.2°F, with 19.6 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Colorado is 40.7 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Colorado average
B
City profile score · Black Forest, CO
74/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Household income A+
$142,173
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share A+
57.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate A-
2.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living F
103.1 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Black Forest profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 94/100 (A+) · $142,173
Bachelor's+ share: 90/100 (A+) · 57.0%
Poverty rate: 84/100 (A-) · 2.3%
Cost of living: 26/100 (F) · 103.1 index
How does Black Forest compare to other US cities?
Black Forest measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income93% higher than other cities
Home value95% pricier than other cities
Median rent68% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Black Forest against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Colorado only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Colorado-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Black Forest near the bottom of Colorado's cities
Among the 408 Colorado cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Black Forest ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Black Forest only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#46 of 379
88th percentile in Colorado
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 408
0th percentile in Colorado
Median Home Value
#52 of 388
87th percentile in Colorado
Poverty Rate
#264 of 408
35th percentile in Colorado
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#88 of 408
78th percentile in Colorado
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Colorado only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
93rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Black Forest's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$805,2005th percentilemore affordable than 5% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Black Forest's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,780 of 15,516
More affordable than 11% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,872 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 5.7×, Black Forest sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,780 of 15,516 and #2,872 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$142,173Black Forest, CO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Black Forest, CO median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Black Forest, CO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)57.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)55.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
14,658
Median Income
$142,173
Median Home Value
$805,200
Median Age
48.7
Poverty Rate
2.3%
Labor force participation
55.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
57.0%
Climate
Avg Temperature
49.2°F
Annual Precipitation
19.6"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
63.3%
Carpool
5.6%
Public Transit
0.2%
Walk
0.7%
Work from Home
29.6%
Other
0.6%
Based on 6,555 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Colorado statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $202
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Colorado at $202 (electricity about $90 , water and sewer about $50 ).
These are Colorado statewide averages, not a meter reading for Black Forest. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Colorado's BEA cost-of-living index is 103.1 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Black Forest is $1,429/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Colorado statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 40.7 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Colorado statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Black Forest sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Black Forest compares to similar-size Colorado cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.