Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,019.
Fruitvale's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades B, ranked 80th of 158 in Colorado. It also does better than most on health: residents are healthier than 66% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: homes are expensive, about $333K for a typical one and 4.5 times the Grand Junction metro’s $74K median household income. Fruitvale’s July high is 94°F, where Colorado’s towns sit at 89°F and U.S. towns at 85°F. The biggest park or preserve is Long Family Memorial Park, at 38 acres.
Where Fruitvale beats most towns.
Where Fruitvale’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Colorado), ordered by how far Fruitvale is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 5,222 in 1990, 8,271 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 3 maps from 1962 on.
Explore the history →Fruitvale is unincorporated, so Mesa County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Fruitvale.
Fruitvale carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Colorado (mostly inland flooding), has hotter summers than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Colorado.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 99% of Colorado towns, with expected losses of about $137 per resident a year; that rating is what its A+ for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in Fruitvale is 7 of 100. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Fruitvale since 1999.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Mesa County Valley School District No. 51. The largest public high school is Central High School, with 1,352 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Mesa Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 476 | C |
| Central High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,352 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CO on state tests and graduation
Fruitvale has 851 jobs for its 3,418 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here grew from 602 in 2013 to 851.
Most working residents leave Fruitvale for work: only 2% work in town. Since 2013, Fruitvale has added 249 jobs, to 851 in 2023. Fruitvale’s average trip to work is 22 minutes.
| Fruitvale | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2% | 7.8% | 8% |
| Work from home | 14% | 18% | 11% |
| Median household income | $78,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Within Colorado it is less healthy than 74% of the 159 graded towns: Colorado sets a high bar.
15% of Fruitvale adults report frequent physical distress. Fruitvale beats the Colorado average on 3 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 73% of Fruitvale adults had a checkup this year.
| Fruitvale | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 71% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 26% | 35% |
| What stands out | Fruitvale | CO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 15.7% | 19% |
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 66.8% | 62.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.9% | 9.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
July afternoons average 94.1°, hotter than in 95% of U.S. towns; January nights average 18.7°.
Fruitvale has chilly winters and hot summers, with very little rain. About 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1.0 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Fruitvale | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 1.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4% | 7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Long Family Memorial Park | 0.5 mi | 38 |
| 2. Coronado Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
93% of households own their home in Fruitvale.
| Fruitvale | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 93% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,686 a month | $1,812 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fruitvale. Close and well known come first.
9 mi National MonumentColorado National Monument483K visitors a year
29 mi MountainGrand Mesa18 mi Ski areaPowderhorn56 runs · 1,653 ft vertical
3 mi MuseumCAF Rocky Mountain Wing Museum
in town MuseumCross Orchards Historic Site
14 mi MuseumFruita MuseumColorado National Monument: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Grand Mesa: DrunkDriver, CC BY-SA 3.0 · CAF Rocky Mountain Wing Museum: Airbase1, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cross Orchards Historic Site: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fruita Museum: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Fruitvale
About 4 of every 100 Fruitvale residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Colorado.
Census-designated place in Mesa County, CO, USA
Fruitvale is a census-designated place (CDP) in and governed by Mesa County, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Grand Junction, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,271 at the 2020 census, up from 7,675 in 2010. The Grand Junction post office (Zip Code 81504) serves Fruitvale postal addresses.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Fruitvale.
| Town | CO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruitvale | #80 | B | C+ | — | B | B+ |
| Grand Junction | #118 | C+ | C+ | D | B | B+ |
| Clifton | #130 | C | B− | — | B | C+ |
Fruitvale and Clifton report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Fruitvale with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Fruitvale grades B overall, better than 60% of U.S. towns and #80 of 158 in Colorado. It grades B+ for health and B for schools.
The typical home is worth about $333,000, 37% below the Colorado typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
