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-GUNNISON-CO · Gunnison, CO 6,712 pop · income 28th pct · 6 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 Gunnison
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Gunnison on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Gunnison · this city · lowest
55,313
Gunnison · this city · lowest
55,313 median HH income
22.1% of the leader · rank #1
Garden City · near
55,313
Garden City · near
55,313 median HH income
22.1% of the leader · rank #2
Mitchell · near
55,313
Mitchell · near
55,313 median HH income
22.1% of the leader · rank #3
Donnellson · near
55,313
Donnellson · near
55,313 median HH income
22.1% of the leader · rank #4
Carsonville · near
55,313
Carsonville · near
55,313 median HH income
22.1% of the leader · rank #5
South Run · highest
250,001
South Run · highest
250,001 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
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 Gunnison 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: 6,712.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Gunnison - the verdict
Nationally, Gunnison sits in the 28th percentile for household income and the 7th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
28th
percentile, household income
80th
percentile, home value
68th
percentile, median rent
7th
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: Gunnison, CO
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 6,712 residents in Gunnison, a small town within Colorado. Median household income here is $55,313 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 12.1%. Home values in Gunnison run a median of $432,200, and the median resident age is 26.1 years. 54.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 71.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 10 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 86% from five years earlier. Gunnison's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 4161.2 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Gunnison's yearly average temperature at 37.7°F with 10.6 inches of precipitation per year and 45.5 inches of snowfall.
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. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Colorado run around $202, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. The average commute for Gunnison workers runs 19.8 minutes, with 47.5% driving alone and 6.9% working from home. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 40.7 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Gunnison'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 climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to schools and households to reported crime to within-city variation to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Gunnison, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Population change
Is Gunnison 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 +261 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 10 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 37.7°F, with 10.6 inches of precipitation and 45.5 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Gunnison?
Within Colorado, the closest population matches are Air Force Academy (6,701 residents, $93,889 income); Orchard Mesa (6,597 residents, $76,173 income); Aspen (6,862 residents, $78,636 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Delano, MN (6,712 residents); Oakmont, PA (6,712 residents); South Run, VA (6,714 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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Gunnison?
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 47.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 19.8 minutes.
Public transit
12.4%
Work from home
6.9%
Drive alone
47.5%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 3,889 workers age 16+.
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 54.6% 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
4
Bachelor's degree+
54.6%
Poverty estimate
12.1%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Gunnison?
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 4161.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 82% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
3769.8
Violent rate
391.5
Total reported rate
4161.2
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Gunnison?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 7.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 12.1%, 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
$55,313
Home value
$432,200
Value / income
7.8×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 12.1% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
103.1 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Colorado average
F
City profile score · Gunnison, CO
36/100
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
54.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
12.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$55,313
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
392 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Gunnison profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 88/100 (A) · 54.6%
Poverty rate: 31/100 (F) · 12.1%
Household income: 28/100 (F) · $55,313
Cost of living: 26/100 (F) · 103.1 index
Violent crime: 23/100 (F) · 392 /100k
Where Gunnison sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Gunnison'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 - Gunnison highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Gunnison, CO (this city): home $432,200, crime 4,161/100k
Oakmont, PA : home $317,700, crime 1,049/100k
Purcell, OK : home $163,000, crime 2,306/100k
Liberty Hill, TX : home $350,500, crime 798/100k
Aspen, CO : home $1,375,000, crime 3,144/100k
Carbondale, CO : home $796,100, crime 751/100k
Dacono, CO : home $448,200, crime 973/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Gunnison compare to other US cities?
Gunnison measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income28% higher than other cities
Home value80% pricier than other cities
Median rent68% pricier than other cities
Safety7% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Colorado alone, Gunnison ranks #101 of 116 Colorado cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Gunnison 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 Gunnison near the bottom of Colorado's cities
Among the 408 Colorado cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Gunnison ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Gunnison only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#289 of 379
23rd percentile in Colorado
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 408
0th percentile in Colorado
Median Home Value
#174 of 388
55th percentile in Colorado
Poverty Rate
#83 of 408
80th percentile in Colorado
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#104 of 408
75th 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
28th percentile nationally for median household income · 7th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Gunnison's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Gunnison'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 Gunnison's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$432,20020th percentilemore affordable than 20% 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
Gunnison's home-value-to-income ratio: 7.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,960 of 15,516
More affordable than 4% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,976 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 7.8×, Gunnison sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,960 of 15,516 and #10,976 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
$55,313Gunnison, CO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Gunnison, 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 Gunnison, CO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)54.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)12.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)71.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,712
Median Income
$55,313
Median Home Value
$432,200
Median Age
26.1
Poverty Rate
12.1%
Labor force participation
71.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
54.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
4161.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
391.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3769.8
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
37.7°F
Annual Precipitation
10.6"
Annual Snowfall
45.5"
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
Gunnison's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,575 residents
2021
6,772 residents
2022
6,835 residents
2023
6,829 residents
2024
6,856 residents
2025
6,836 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
10
housing units authorized
Single-Family
10
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
72
16
56
$9.7M
2020
104
27
77
$19.6M
2021
41
29
12
$7.7M
2022
31
15
16
$7.0M
2023
29
26
3
$7.7M
2024
10
10
0
$2.0M
Permit volume decreased 86% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
19.8 minutes
Drive Alone
47.5%
Carpool
20.3%
Public Transit
12.4%
Walk
11.4%
Work from Home
6.9%
Other
1.5%
Based on 3,889 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 Gunnison. 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 Gunnison 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 Gunnison sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Gunnison 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.