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-MONTE-VISTA-CO · Monte Vista, CO 4,178 pop · income 18th pct · 4 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 Monte Vista
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Monte Vista on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Rocky Ford · lowest
35,658
Rocky Ford · lowest
35,658 median HH income
22.3% of the leader · rank #1
Brazil · near
49,331
Brazil · near
49,331 median HH income
30.9% of the leader · rank #2
Crow Agency · near
49,333
Crow Agency · near
49,333 median HH income
30.9% of the leader · rank #3
Monte Vista · this city
49,339
Monte Vista · this city
49,339 median HH income
30.9% of the leader · rank #4
Keokuk · near
49,340
Keokuk · near
49,340 median HH income
30.9% of the leader · rank #5
Astoria · near
49,345
Astoria · near
49,345 median HH income
30.9% of the leader · rank #6
Fairway · highest
159,821
Fairway · highest
159,821 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 Monte Vista 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: 4,178.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Monte Vista - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Monte Vista lands in the 18th percentile for household income and the 3rd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
18th
percentile, household income
44th
percentile, home value
68th
percentile, median rent
3rd
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: Monte Vista, CO
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 4,178 residents in Monte Vista, a small town within Colorado. Households in Monte Vista report a median income of $49,339 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 21.1%. Typical homes in Monte Vista are valued around $204,500, and the median resident age is 38.1 years. 29.1% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 52.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Monte Vista's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 5360.3 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, above the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 40.4°F with 9.2 inches of precipitation per year and 35.4 inches of snowfall.
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). 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 Monte Vista'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 comparison shortlist to within-city variation to reported crime to population change to climate and hazard context to housing and income to schools and households to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Monte Vista, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Monte Vista?
Within Colorado, the closest population matches are Lincoln Park (4,315 residents, $64,750 income); Basalt (3,995 residents, $106,000 income); Penrose (3,978 residents, $75,109 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Fairway, KS (4,177 residents); Greendale, IN (4,176 residents); Duncan, SC (4,175 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.
What can 4 Census tracts reveal inside Monte Vista?
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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Monte Vista?
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 5360.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 135% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Is Monte Vista growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -250 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -5.9% 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.
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 Monte Vista?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 40.4°F, with 9.2 inches of precipitation and 35.4 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.
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
40.4°F
Annual precipitation
9.2 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Monte Vista?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 21.1%, 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
$49,339
Home value
$204,500
Value / income
4.1×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the education layer cover for Monte Vista?
The NCES join finds 9 public schools within the city match. 29.1% 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
9
Bachelor's degree+
29.1%
Poverty estimate
21.1%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What does the journey to work look like in Monte Vista?
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 83.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.8%
Work from home
5.4%
Drive alone
83.2%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,581 workers age 16+.
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Colorado average
F
City profile score · Monte Vista, CO
24/100
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 C
29.1%
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.
Household income F
$49,339
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
449 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
21.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Monte Vista profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 56/100 (C) · 29.1%
Cost of living: 26/100 (F) · 103.1 index
Household income: 19/100 (F) · $49,339
Violent crime: 19/100 (F) · 449 /100k
Poverty rate: 11/100 (F) · 21.1%
Where Monte Vista sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Monte Vista'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 - Monte Vista highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
Monte Vista, CO (this city): home $204,500, crime 5,360/100k
Fairway, KS : home $626,600, crime 530/100k
Duncan, SC : home $182,500, crime 2,171/100k
Basalt, CO : home $1,148,100, crime 1,496/100k
Florence, CO : home $228,300, crime 1,292/100k
Rocky Ford, CO : home $126,100, crime 894/100k
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 Monte Vista compare to other US cities?
Where Monte Vista sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income18% higher than other cities
Home value44% pricier than other cities
Median rent68% pricier than other cities
Safety3% 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, Monte Vista ranks #106 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 Monte Vista 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 Monte Vista near the bottom of Colorado's cities
Among the 408 Colorado cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Monte Vista ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Monte Vista only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#322 of 379
15th percentile in Colorado
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 408
0th percentile in Colorado
Median Home Value
#310 of 388
20th percentile in Colorado
Poverty Rate
#32 of 408
92nd percentile in Colorado
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#227 of 408
44th 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
18th percentile nationally for median household income · 3rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Monte Vista's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Monte Vista'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 Monte Vista's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$204,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 56% 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
Monte Vista's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,098 of 15,516
More affordable than 28% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,621 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.1×, Monte Vista sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,098 of 15,516 and #8,621 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$49,339Monte Vista, CO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Monte Vista, 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 Monte Vista, CO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)29.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)21.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)52.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,178
Median Income
$49,339
Median Home Value
$204,500
Median Age
38.1
Poverty Rate
21.1%
Labor force participation
52.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
29.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
5360.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
448.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
4911.5
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
40.4°F
Annual Precipitation
9.2"
Annual Snowfall
35.4"
Schools
Total Schools
9
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Monte Vista's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,255 residents
2021
4,193 residents
2022
4,145 residents
2023
4,076 residents
2024
4,029 residents
2025
4,005 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.2%
Carpool
9.4%
Public Transit
0.8%
Walk
0.6%
Work from Home
5.4%
Other
0.6%
Based on 1,581 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 Monte Vista. 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 Monte Vista 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 Monte Vista sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Monte Vista 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.