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Place dossier plate
SheetCO-GRAND-JUNCTION-CO · Grand Junction, CO 67,027 pop · income 45th pct · 33 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 Grand Junction
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Grand Junction on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Waterloo · lowest
56,344
Waterloo · lowest
56,344 median HH income
39.4% of the leader · rank #1
Toluca · near
66,667
Toluca · near
66,667 median HH income
46.6% of the leader · rank #2
Callender · near
66,667
Callender · near
66,667 median HH income
46.6% of the leader · rank #3
Grand Junction · this city
66,676
Grand Junction · this city
66,676 median HH income
46.6% of the leader · rank #4
Wattsville · near
66,677
Wattsville · near
66,677 median HH income
46.6% of the leader · rank #5
Sunset · near
66,684
Sunset · near
66,684 median HH income
46.6% of the leader · rank #6
Castle Rock · highest
143,031
Castle Rock · highest
143,031 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 Grand Junction 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: 67,027.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Grand Junction - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Grand Junction lands in the 45th percentile for household income and the 9th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
45th
percentile, household income
73rd
percentile, home value
68th
percentile, median rent
9th
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: Grand Junction, CO
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 67,027 residents in Grand Junction, a small city within Colorado. Households in Grand Junction report a median income of $66,676 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.4%. Grand Junction's housing stock carries a median value of $358,300, and the median resident age is 40.0 years. Educational attainment runs 36.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 58.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Grand Junction's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 3716.4 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Grand Junction's yearly average temperature at 54.0°F with 8.9 inches of precipitation per year and 12.6 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. 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 Grand Junction'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 population change to work and mobility to within-city variation to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to reported crime 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 Grand Junction, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Grand Junction growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +6,075 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +9.2% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What does the journey to work look like in Grand Junction?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 71.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
What can 33 Census tracts reveal inside Grand Junction?
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.
PlainCities matches 33 Census tracts to this city.
Which cities make useful reference points for Grand Junction?
Within Colorado, the closest population matches are Commerce City (64,640 residents, $106,756 income); Parker (60,115 residents, $129,342 income); Broomfield (75,110 residents, $121,025 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lodi, CA (67,008 residents); Spring, TX (67,103 residents); Waterloo, IA (66,947 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.
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.
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 Grand Junction?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 54.0°F, with 8.9 inches of precipitation and 12.6 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.
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.
Mean temperature
54.0°F
Annual precipitation
8.9 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
40.7
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Grand Junction?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3716.4 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 63% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
3170.4
Violent rate
546.1
Total reported rate
3716.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Grand Junction?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.4%, 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.
Household income
$66,676
Home value
$358,300
Value / income
5.4×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the education layer cover for Grand Junction?
The NCES join finds 34 public schools within the city match. 36.1% 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.
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.
Matched public schools
34
Bachelor's degree+
36.1%
Poverty estimate
7.4%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Below median income · poverty 7.4% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
103.1 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Colorado average
F
City profile score · Grand Junction, CO
39/100
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 B-
36.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate C-
7.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income D
$66,676
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); 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.
Violent crime F
546 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Grand Junction profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 68/100 (B-) · 36.1%
Poverty rate: 50/100 (C-) · 7.4%
Household income: 44/100 (D) · $66,676
Cost of living: 26/100 (F) · 103.1 index
Violent crime: 13/100 (F) · 546 /100k
Where Grand Junction sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Grand Junction'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 - Grand Junction highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Grand Junction, CO (this city): home $358,300, crime 3,716/100k
Waterloo, IA : home $150,200, crime 2,921/100k
Delray Beach, FL : home $386,700, crime 3,053/100k
Madera, CA : home $335,900, crime 1,571/100k
Rockville, MD : home $658,300, crime 1,674/100k
Commerce City, CO : home $463,200, crime 3,663/100k
Parker, CO : home $613,200, crime 1,857/100k
Broomfield, CO : home $631,600, crime 2,004/100k
Castle Rock, CO : home $621,700, crime 974/100k
Loveland, CO : home $453,100, crime 2,333/100k
Littleton, CO : home $596,700, crime 2,732/100k
How does Grand Junction compare to other US cities?
Where Grand Junction sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income45% higher than other cities
Home value73% pricier than other cities
Median rent68% pricier than other cities
Safety9% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Colorado, Grand Junction ranks #97 of 116 Colorado cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Grand Junction 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 Grand Junction near the bottom of Colorado's cities
Among the 408 Colorado cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Grand Junction ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Grand Junction only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#240 of 379
37th percentile in Colorado
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 408
0th percentile in Colorado
Median Home Value
#223 of 388
42nd percentile in Colorado
Poverty Rate
#149 of 408
63rd percentile in Colorado
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#193 of 408
53rd 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
45th percentile nationally for median household income · 9th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Grand Junction's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Grand Junction'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 Grand Junction's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$358,30027th percentilemore affordable than 27% 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
Grand Junction's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,411 of 15,516
More affordable than 14% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#503 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 5.4×, Grand Junction sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,411 of 15,516 and #503 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
$66,676Grand Junction, CO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Grand Junction, 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 Grand Junction, CO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)36.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
67,027
Median Income
$66,676
Median Home Value
$358,300
Median Age
40.0
Poverty Rate
7.4%
Labor force participation
58.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
36.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3716.4
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
546.1
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3170.4
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
54.0°F
Annual Precipitation
8.9"
Annual Snowfall
12.6"
Schools
Total Schools
34
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Grand Junction's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
65,752 residents
2021
66,921 residents
2022
68,086 residents
2023
69,478 residents
2024
70,588 residents
2025
71,827 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
71.1%
Carpool
8.3%
Public Transit
0.8%
Walk
3.4%
Work from Home
12.1%
Other
4.3%
Based on 32,159 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 Grand Junction. 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 Grand Junction 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 Grand Junction sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Grand Junction 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.