City profile · Colorado · Census ACS 2023

Dolores, CO

Dolores's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

947
Residents
$33,438
Median income
$263,300
Median home
$1,429
Median rent (state)
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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.

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Starting with Dolores, CO - add up to three more cities on the compare page.

See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Dolores.

Place dossier plate

Sheet CO-DOLORES-CO · Dolores, CO 947 pop · income 4th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-LOW · COL-PAR · SAFE-UNK · RANK-BOTTOM · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 947
  • INC-LOW $33,438
  • COL-PAR 103.1
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-BOTTOM 4th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Montura
  • HOME-MID $263,300
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Montura, FL (+ $0 income $)

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 Dolores

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Dolores on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

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.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Dolores 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: 947.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $33,438. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Dolores - the verdict

Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Dolores lands in the 4th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.

4th
percentile, household income
58th
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: Dolores, CO

Census ACS 2023 estimates count 947 residents in Dolores, a small town within Colorado. Median household income here is $33,438 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 13.8%. Home values in Dolores run a median of $263,300, and the median resident age is 38.8 years. About 33.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 69.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 1 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 80% from five years earlier.

Colorado carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Colorado at 103.1 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,429 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Colorado's average monthly utility costs around $202 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 40.7 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Low).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Dolores'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 work and mobility to population change to comparison shortlist to housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Dolores, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history. No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

Question 1

What does the journey to work look like in Dolores?

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 55.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.

Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.

Compare commute patterns →

Question 2

Is Dolores growing, shrinking, or holding steady?

Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +37 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.

Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.

See the national growth ranking →

3. Comparison shortlist

Which cities make useful reference points for Dolores?

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.

Within Colorado, the closest population matches are Log Lane (948 residents, $64,688 income); Cheyenne Wells (949 residents, $61,705 income); Haxtun (957 residents, $53,819 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Laurel, NE (947 residents); New Berlin, NY (947 residents); Salineville, OH (947 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.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

4. Housing and income

How far does income reach against housing in Dolores?

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.

The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 7.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 13.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Other supported questions

Why these stay compact

These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.

Schools and households

What does the education layer cover for Dolores?

The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.

The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 33.2% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.

Poverty estimate
13.8%
Bachelor's degree+
33.2%
Matched public schools
4

NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.

See how the family ranking is built →

Population

947 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$33,438 /yr

Lowest-decile income · poverty 13.8% (High poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

103.1 (US=100)

Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Colorado average

City profile score · Dolores, CO

25/100

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.

Bachelor's+ share C+
33.2%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

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.

Poverty rate F
13.8%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Household income F
$33,438

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Dolores profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Bachelor's+ share, Cost of living, Poverty rate, Household income. Bachelor's+ shareCost of livingPoverty rateHousehold income 25 F
Dolores profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Bachelor's+ share: 63/100 (C+) · 33.2%
  • Cost of living: 26/100 (F) · 103.1 index
  • Poverty rate: 25/100 (F) · 13.8%
  • Household income: 0/100 (F) · $33,438

How does Dolores compare to other US cities?

Dolores measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.

Household income 4% higher than other cities
Home value 58% pricier than other cities
Median rent 68% 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 Dolores 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 Dolores near the bottom of Colorado's cities

Among the 408 Colorado cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Dolores ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Dolores only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#367 of 379
3rd percentile in Colorado
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 408
0th percentile in Colorado
Median Home Value
#272 of 388
30th percentile in Colorado
Poverty Rate
#68 of 408
83rd percentile in Colorado
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#205 of 408
50th 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.

4thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

4th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Dolores's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$263,300 42nd percentile more affordable than 42% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Below this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). This entry sits in this band. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Dolores $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

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

Dolores's home-value-to-income ratio: 7.9×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,968 of 15,516
More affordable than 4% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,981 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 7.9×, Dolores sits in the pressured band: national rank #14,968 of 15,516 and #10,981 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000). 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

$33,438 Dolores, CO median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Dolores, CO Dolores, CO's median household income ($33,438) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Dolores, CO-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Dolores, CO median $33,438/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Dolores, 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 Dolores, CO.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 33.2%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 13.8%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 69.1%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
947
Median Income
$33,438
Median Home Value
$263,300
Median Age
38.8
Poverty Rate
13.8%
Labor force participation
69.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
33.2%

Schools

Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city

Population Change

PEP vintage

Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025

See the fastest-growing cities →
880 residents900 residents920 residents940 residents 202020212022202320242025 896 residents 933 residents ▲ +4.1%
Dolores's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.
Read the chart as text
Period Population
2020 896 residents
2021 913 residents
2022 923 residents
2023 926 residents
2024 935 residents
2025 933 residents

Housing Supply

BPS source

Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized

📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
1
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.1
permits per 1,000 residents

5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)

Year Total
2019 5
2020 4
2021 3
2022 1
2023 4
2024 1

Permit volume decreased 80% from 2019 to 2024.

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
55.2%
Carpool
7.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
23.4%
Work from Home
14.0%

Based on 556 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 Dolores. 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 Dolores 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 Dolores sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Dolores 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.

City Population Median Household Income
Dolores (this city) 947 $33,438
Log Lane 948 $64,688
Cheyenne Wells 949 $61,705
Haxtun 957 $53,819
NCES CCD Census BPS 2024
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, 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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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