Latest Census city estimates released May 14, 2026 · Population as of July 1, 2025 · Next city estimates scheduled for May 2027. Release schedule
Fort Collins, Colorado population is 171,500 as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate), ranking #155 nationally and #4 in Colorado. Cost of living runs 1.1% above the U.S. average (BEA RPP 2024); the four-person spending scenario corresponds to modeled gross income of $133,585/yr (TY2026 tax assumptions; partial scenario excluding unverified local income tax). This profile draws on 13 federal datasets covering population, housing, income, employment, climate, and risk.
171,500 people live in Fort Collins as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025), the #155 largest U.S. city.
How big is Fort Collins?
Fort Collins covers 57.2 square miles of land and 1.3 square miles of water. Its population density is about 2,996 residents per square mile of land. Compare U.S. cities by land area →
Source detail: 2025 population
2025 population
Source agency
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset
Census PEP
Vintage / period
Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography
Census PEP subcounty place records for the included city universe.
Transformation
Copied from POPESTIMATE2025, joined by Census GEOID, and used for ranks, filters, and city pages.
Known limit: Annual estimate, not a decennial count; each new PEP vintage can revise the prior series.
Population grew 1.0% from the April 2020 base to mid-2025.
Vintage 2025 · annual estimates
Recent history (V2025 series, 2020 base → 2025).
2020 base: 169,780 → 2025: 171,500 (+1.0%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2020 base
169,780
April 1, 2020
2020
169,954
July 1, 2020
2021
169,303
July 1, 2021
2022
170,257
July 1, 2022
2023
170,545
July 1, 2023
2024
170,727
July 1, 2024
2025
171,500
July 1, 2025
Earlier history (2010–2019, prior Census vintage)
These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2019 release — a separate, earlier methodology. They’re shown here as historical context only; the 2010 and 2019 values aren’t directly comparable to the 2020–2025 series above.
Population grew 17.2% from the July 2010 estimate to 2019 (V2019 — see seam note below).
Fort Collins is the #155 largest of 19,483 U.S. cities and #4 in Colorado.
▸Show the analyst detail (9 rows)
Measure
Value
Note
2020 base
169,780
April 1, 2020 census base
5-yr change
+1,720
2020 base → 2025; within V2025
5-yr change %
+1.0%
within V2025 only
1-yr change
+773
2024 → 2025 estimate
1-yr change %
+0.5%
within V2025 only
Density
2,996
people per sq mi, land only
Land area
57.2
sq mi (2025 Gazetteer)
U.S. rank by population
#155
of 19,483 cities
State rank by population
#4
of 272 in Colorado
What is the median household income in Fort Collins?
Same-period U.S. benchmarks: household income $80,734 ± $166; per-capita income $44,673 ± $122. Margins are at 90% confidence. Comparison badges describe point estimates; they are not significance tests.
Median household income is 5% above the U.S. median ($85,070 vs $80,734); 15.8% live in poverty, 3.4 points above the 12.5% U.S. estimate.
Median household income$85,070
US
Fort Collins: $85,070 — 5% above the US median of $80,734.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS income data; censored rows retained in the distribution
Fort Collins
$85,070
United States
$80,734
Income and poverty estimates for Fort Collins from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates (window 2020–2024). Every figure is shown with its 90% margin of error (MOE). Cells where the ± margin exceeds half the estimate are flagged "low precision." See methodology §12.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median household income
$85,070+5.4% vs US
±$2,468
Per capita income
$47,458+6.2% vs US
±$1,117
Population in poverty
15.8% ± 1.0 percentage points
share of population for whom poverty status is determined
Median home value is 74% above the U.S. median ($577,900 vs $332,700); median rent is 20% above ($1,690 vs $1,413); the ratio of median home value to median household income is 6.8× versus 4.1× nationally; this compares two distributions and does not measure an individual household's housing burden.
Median home value$577,900
US
Fort Collins: $577,900 — 74% above the US median of $332,700.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS home-value data; censored rows retained in the distribution
HUD 2-BR fair-market rent$1,732/mo
US
Fort Collins: $1,732/mo — 61% above the US median of $1,077/mo.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with a HUD Fair Market Rent
Same-period U.S. benchmarks: home value $332,700 ± $236; gross rent $1,413 ± $2. Comparison badges describe estimates and do not establish statistical significance.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median value, owner-occupied units
$577,900+73.7% vs US
±$8,381
Median gross rent
$1,690+19.6% vs US
±$22
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR (FY2026)
$1,732-2.4% vs US
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO MSA· 40th-percentile gross rent · HUD methodology
Owner-occupied share
51.6% ± 1.1 percentage points
of occupied housing units
Price-to-income ratio
6.8x± 0.22x approximate 90% MOE+64.8% vs US
median home value ÷ median household income · U.S. ratio: 4.1x
Rent-burdened (≥30% of income)
57.6% ± 3.5 percentage points+12.8% vs US
renters with a computed rent/income ratio · U.S. share: 51.1%
Severely rent-burdened (≥50%)
30.7% ± 2.6 percentage points+18.6% vs US
renters with a computed rent/income ratio · U.S. share: 25.9%
Poverty (Census SAIPE 2024, model-based), unemployment (BLS LAUS 2025 annual averages), and remote-work share (ACS 2020–2024) for Fort Collins. Numbers are labeled at their native grain — place-grain when BLS publishes it, otherwise per-county. We do not compute population-weighted county averages. See methodology §13.
Measure
Value
Grain
Unemployment rate (annual avg)
3.8%
Fort Collins (BLS sub-state LAUS)
Civilian labor force
99,174
2025 annual avg
Worked from home
22.0% ± 1.3 percentage points+45.3% vs US
share of workers 16+ working from home · U.S. share: 15.1% · ACS
County context — Fort Collins sits in Larimer County:
County
Poverty rate
Median HH income
Unemployment
Larimer County
10.5%
$93,518
3.9%
Top industries by private employment — NAICS supersectors rolled up from Fort Collins's linked county in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW, 2025 annual averages). See methodology §11.
#
Industry (NAICS supersector)
Private employment
Avg weekly wage
#1
Health care and social assistance (62)
19,839
$1,277 / wk
#2
Retail trade (44-45)
18,903
$811 / wk
#3
Accommodation and food services (72)
18,894
$577 / wk
#4
Manufacturing (31-33)
14,444
$2,647 / wk
#5
Professional and technical services (54)
13,288
$2,582 / wk
What workers earn in the Fort Collins-Loveland, CO metro — top occupations by employment plus six curated benchmarks (registered nurse, software developer, elementary teacher, general manager, retail salesperson, truck driver). Wages are metro-area medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). See methodology §25.
Fast Food and Counter Workers is the largest tracked occupation in the Fort Collins-Loveland, CO metro (5,770 jobs, median $34,850/yr).
▸Show all 14 occupations
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Fast Food and Counter Workers
5,770
$34,850
$16.75
Cashiers
3,670
$35,980
$17.30
Stockers and Order Fillers
2,810
$40,280
$19.37
Waiters and Waitresses
2,740
$47,360
$22.77
Business Operations Specialists, All Other
2,290
$84,840
$40.79
Home Health and Personal Care Aides
2,230
$38,650
$18.58
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
2,110
$37,890
$18.22
Office Clerks, General
2,030
$55,960
$26.90
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
5,400
$36,640
$17.62
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
2,510
$105,770
$50.85
Software Developers · benchmark
1,820
$133,990
$64.42
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · benchmark
1,410
$60,380
$29.03
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
All items run 1.1% above the U.S. average (RPP 101.1); rents run 20.6% above (RPP 120.6) — the metro's housing premium is the main driver.
Cost of living (RPP, all items)RPP 101.1
US
Fort Collins's cost of living runs 1.1% above the U.S. average (RPP 101.1 vs 100).
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of metro/non-metro areas with a BEA price parity
BEA Regional Price Parity (all items)
RPP 101.1
+1.1% vs U.S. average · BEA 2024 · Fort Collins-Loveland, CO metro
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR
$1,732/mo
FY2026 · Fort Collins-Loveland, CO MSA
State income tax (top marginal rate)
4.40%
flat · TY2026
Four-person monthly spending scenario
$11,132/mo
3BR rent + food + childcare + taxes + transport · federal sources; excludes unverified local income tax
One-person monthly spending scenario
$3,991/mo
1BR rent + food + taxes + transport · federal sources; excludes unverified local income tax
Local income tax
—
Unverified and excluded from the spending scenario; not a verified zero
Household budget figures are arithmetic floors using current federal sources at the grains documented in methodology. Not a recommended salary, not a poverty threshold, not a composite score.
6.8% ± 0.6 percentage points foreign-born (U.S. share 14.1%); Spanish is the most-spoken language at home other than English (5.7% of residents 5+).
A quick read on Fort Collins's residents — nativity and languages spoken at home shown above, from the ACS 5-Year 2020–2024. The full demographic breakdown (age, race and ethnicity, household types, and educational attainment, each with its margin of error) lives on the demographics page.
These are K-12 public school districts. Higher education (colleges and universities) is not represented in this dataset.
Public school districts serving Fort Collins, from the NCES EDGE Geographic Relationship Files (GRF25, 2024–25 school year boundaries). The join is many-to-many — large cities often span multiple districts, and one district often serves multiple cities. Sorted primary district first. See methodology §12 for the consolidated-city fallback and Milford CT special case.
Source: NCES EDGE GRF25 · school year 2024–25 · methodology →
What is the climate like in Fort Collins?
Hottest month: July (89°F avg high). Coldest: January (16°F avg low). Annual precipitation: 14.7 in.
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) for Fort Collins from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See methodology §15 for the gridded vs. station source path.
Average monthly highs & lows · 30-year normal (NOAA 1991–2020). Every number on this chart is an average.
bar = avg daily high → avg daily lowprecip in inches below each barprecip in millimeters below each bar
Natural-hazard exposure for Fort Collins from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index (FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0). NRI is an expected-annual-loss composite calibrated on 1996–2019 historical losses, published at the U.S. county grain. See methodology §17.
County
NRI composite
Rating
Top hazards
Larimer County
90.1
Relatively Moderate
Lightning 99.2 Very High · Hail 98.3 Relatively High · Winter Weather 97.9 Very High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0 · methodology →
How fast is home internet in Fort Collins?
13 non-satellite ISPs serve the area; 92% of locations have gigabit-capable service per ISP filings.
Fixed broadband availability for Fort Collins from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC), as of December 31, 2025. Every speed and provider count below is an ISP-reported advertised maximum — not measured throughput. Actual delivered speeds typically run 60–80% of advertised. See methodology §16.
Measure
Value
Note
Providers serving this city
13 + satellite
distinct ISPs, excluding satellite-only
Fiber providers
12
offer fiber-to-the-premises somewhere in the BDC
Units with ≥100/20 Mbps fixed
100.0%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Locations with ≥100 Mbps upload
92.2%
derived: max(fiber ≥100/20, gigabit). Fiber is symmetric; gigabit is ≥100 up by definition
Units with ≥1 Gbps fixed
92.2%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Total broadband-serviceable units
81,315
residential locations in the FCC Fabric (not households)
Source: FCC BDC · as of December 31, 2025 · methodology →
How much crime is reported in Fort Collins?
In 2024, law enforcement reported 465 violent and 3,675 property offenses in the Fort Collins jurisdiction — a violent-crime rate of 272.7 per 100,000, below the U.S. estimate of 359.1.
Reported offenses known to law enforcement from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program (CIUS Table 8), 2024. Figures describe the FBI agency jurisdiction: Fort Collins — an FBI jurisdiction population of 170,509, versus the Census place population of 171,500. The rate per 100,000 is the FBI's own (count ÷ that jurisdiction population), never divided by the Census place figure. These are reported crimes under voluntary participation — not measured or victimization crime — and the FBI cautions against using them to rank or compare places. See methodology §31.
Offenses known, 2024
Count
Rate /100k
U.S. rate
Violent crime
465
272.7
359.1
Property crime
3,675
2,155.3
1,760.1
▸Offense breakdown and 3-year trend
Offense, 2024
Count
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
3
Rape
39
Robbery
42
Aggravated assault
381
Burglary
390
Larceny-theft
2,971
Motor vehicle theft
314
Arson (12-month reporters only)
24
Year
Violent /100k
Property /100k
Jurisdiction pop.
2022
321.3
2,605.8
168,045
2023
296.1
2,440.1
168,886
2024
272.7
2,155.3
170,509
Only years the agency reported a complete 12 months appear; the FBI does not estimate missing agency-years, so a gap is a non-reporting year, not zero crime.
U.S. rate is the FBI national estimate (imputes non-reporting agencies); the city figures are reported-only. Source: FBI UCR CIUS Table 8 (2022–2024) · FBI agency jurisdiction: Fort Collins · methodology → · FBI Crime Data Explorer →
In-state context.
Fort Collins sits at state rank #4 among 272 cities in Colorado. Nearby in the state ranking:
Just above in the profiled set: Surprise, AZ · #154 · 175,304 residents.
Just below in the profiled set: Murfreesboro, TN · #156 · 171,178 residents.
Quick travel facts for Fort Collins
Quick travel facts.
Elevation
4,993 ft · at city centroid, from USGS 3D Elevation Program
Nearest scheduled-service airport
Cheyenne Regional Jerry Olson Field(CYS) · 44 mi 71 km from city centroid
Best months to visit
Oct · months when the avg high sits in 65–80°F and precipitation is at or below the city's median monthly precip
Sources: elevation from USGS 3DEP · nearest airport from OurAirports CSV (OurAirports type=large/medium and scheduled_service=yes; not an FAA service classification) · best months derived from NOAA 1991-2020 normals · methodology →
Frequently asked questions about Fort Collins.
How many people live in Fort Collins, CO?
Fort Collins has 171,500 residents as of July 1, 2025, making it the #155 largest city in the United States and #4 in Colorado. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025.
Is Fort Collins growing or shrinking?
Fort Collins has grown 1.0% since the April 2020 census baseline, adding 1,720 residents, including a 0.5% increase from 2024 to 2025. Source: Census PEP Vintage 2025.
What was Fort Collins's population in the 2020 census?
Fort Collins covers 57.2 square miles of land, with a population density of about 2,996 residents per square mile. Source: Census Gazetteer 2025.
What is the median household income in Fort Collins?
$85,070, about 5% above the U.S. median. Source: ACS 5-year estimates, 2020–2024.
SourceU.S. Census · PEP
VintageV2025
Reference2025-07-01
Place typeIncorporated place
GEOID0827425
Last build2026-09-30
Sources · provenance
Every listed dataset is used on this page.
The GEOID for Fort Collins is 0827425. These are the official datasets used by this profile's main data modules; click "methodology" for inclusion rules and the V2019 ↔ V2025 seam, or "source" for the raw publisher page. The headline population value above includes a source-detail disclosure with publisher, dataset, vintage, native geography, transformation, and caveat.
