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Place dossier plate
SheetCO-FORT-COLLINS-CO · Fort Collins, CO 169,705 pop · income 65th pct · 86 tracts
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 Fort Collins
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Fort Collins on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Bayamón zona… · lowest
31,058
Bayamón zona… · lowest
31,058 median HH income
27.4% of the leader · rank #1
Coaling · near
83,587
Coaling · near
83,587 median HH income
73.7% of the leader · rank #2
Stallion Spri… · near
83,590
Stallion Spri… · near
83,590 median HH income
73.7% of the leader · rank #3
Warsaw · near
83,594
Warsaw · near
83,594 median HH income
73.7% of the leader · rank #4
Fort Collins · this city
83,598
Fort Collins · this city
83,598 median HH income
73.7% of the leader · rank #5
St. Leo · near
83,603
St. Leo · near
83,603 median HH income
73.7% of the leader · rank #6
Arvada · highest
113,396
Arvada · highest
113,396 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Fort Collins on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 169,705.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Fort Collins - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Fort Collins places in the 65th percentile for household income and the 24th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
65th
percentile, household income
87th
percentile, home value
68th
percentile, median rent
24th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Fort Collins, CO
Fort Collins is a mid-sized U.S. city in Colorado, home to 169,705 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Fort Collins brings in $83,598 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.6%. Fort Collins's housing stock carries a median value of $548,400, and the median resident age is 30.6 years. 59.9% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 66.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 685 residential building permits were authorized in Fort Collins (Construction Slowdown), down 28% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2428.0 crimes per 100,000 residents, near the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Fort Collins's yearly average temperature at 50.7°F with 15.9 inches of precipitation per year and 51.4 inches of snowfall.
Colorado carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Colorado scores 103.1 (Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. 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 Fort Collins'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to within-city variation to climate and hazard context to population change to schools and households to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Fort Collins, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Fort Collins?
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 6.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What does the journey to work look like in Fort Collins?
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.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Fort Collins?
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Colorado, the closest population matches are Lakewood (156,309 residents, $85,789 income); Thornton (142,878 residents, $100,985 income); Arvada (122,835 residents, $113,396 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Springfield, MO (169,432 residents); Lancaster, CA (170,013 residents); Pembroke Pines, FL (170,557 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.
What can 86 Census tracts reveal inside Fort Collins?
PlainCities matches 86 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Fort Collins?
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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 50.7°F, with 15.9 inches of precipitation and 51.4 inches of annual snowfall. 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.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
40.7
Annual precipitation
15.9 in
Mean temperature
50.7°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
Is Fort Collins growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,546 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 685 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
2020 estimate
169,954
2025 estimate
171,500
Period change
+0.9%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the education layer cover for Fort Collins?
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 47 public schools within the city match. 59.9% 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
5.6%
Bachelor's degree+
59.9%
Matched public schools
47
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Fort Collins?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2428.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 6% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
2428.0
Violent rate
272.7
Property rate
2155.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Above median income · poverty 5.6% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
103.1 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Colorado average
C
City profile score · Fort Collins, CO
55/100
5 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 A+
59.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C+
$83,598
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate C+
5.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
273 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger 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.
Fort Collins profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 92/100 (A+) · 59.9%
Household income: 63/100 (C+) · $83,598
Poverty rate: 62/100 (C+) · 5.6%
Violent crime: 37/100 (F) · 273 /100k
Cost of living: 26/100 (F) · 103.1 index
Where Fort Collins sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Fort Collins's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Fort Collins highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Fort Collins, CO (this city): home $548,400, crime 2,428/100k
Springfield, MO : home $165,200, crime 5,363/100k
Lancaster, CA : home $409,100, crime 2,755/100k
Garden Grove, CA : home $765,500, crime 2,035/100k
Clarksville, TN : home $236,100, crime 2,042/100k
Lakewood, CO : home $548,200, crime 5,881/100k
Thornton, CO : home $482,200, crime 3,109/100k
Arvada, CO : home $600,800, crime 2,765/100k
Westminster, CO : home $497,400, crime 3,844/100k
Pueblo, CO : home $230,900, crime 6,366/100k
Greeley, CO : home $369,600, crime 3,690/100k
How does Fort Collins compare to other US cities?
Fort Collins measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income65% higher than other cities
Home value87% pricier than other cities
Median rent68% pricier than other cities
Safety24% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Colorado and the picture shifts: Fort Collins ranks #75 of 116 Colorado cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Fort Collins 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 Fort Collins near the bottom of Colorado's cities
Among the 408 Colorado cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Fort Collins ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Fort Collins only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#177 of 379
53rd percentile in Colorado
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 408
0th percentile in Colorado
Median Home Value
#128 of 388
67th percentile in Colorado
Poverty Rate
#181 of 408
55th percentile in Colorado
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#73 of 408
82nd 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
65th percentile nationally for median household income · 24th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Fort Collins's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Fort Collins's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Fort Collins's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$548,40013th percentilemore affordable than 13% 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
Fort Collins's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,463 of 15,516
More affordable than 7% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#624 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 6.6×, Fort Collins sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,463 of 15,516 and #624 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
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
$83,598Fort Collins, CO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Fort Collins, 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 Fort Collins, CO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)59.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
169,705
Median Income
$83,598
Median Home Value
$548,400
Median Age
30.6
Poverty Rate
5.6%
Labor force participation
66.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
59.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2428.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
272.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2155.3
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
50.7°F
Annual Precipitation
15.9"
Annual Snowfall
51.4"
Schools
Total Schools
47
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Fort Collins's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
169,954 residents
2021
169,303 residents
2022
170,257 residents
2023
170,545 residents
2024
170,727 residents
2025
171,500 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
685
housing units authorized
Single-Family
371
detached homes
Multifamily
314
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
948
316
632
$159.2M
2020
627
453
174
$118.7M
2021
839
381
458
$153.7M
2022
802
287
515
$198.4M
2023
1,003
372
631
$189.6M
2024
685
371
314
$164.8M
Permit volume decreased 28% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
63.3%
Carpool
5.6%
Public Transit
1.5%
Walk
4.2%
Work from Home
20.2%
Other
5.2%
Based on 95,688 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 Fort Collins. 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 Fort Collins 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 Fort Collins sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Fort Collins 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, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.