Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,005, laid out in 1884.
Monte Vista earns a D, 152nd among Colorado's 158 graded towns, mostly because of incomes and safety. The median household income is $62K, and 31% of residents live below the poverty line. It reports more crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns, including 9 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. One bright spot: homes are within reach, about $268K for a typical one, or 4.2 years of the county’s $64K median household income. 31% of residents live below the poverty line in Monte Vista, above both the Colorado town median (8.4%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). On health, just 10 of Colorado’s 218 towns do worse. Monte Vista has 7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them El Monte Hotel and Monte Vista Downtown Historic District.
Where Monte Vista beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
US Post Office and Federal Building-Monte Vista MainEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Colorado), ordered by how far Monte Vista is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 780 in 1890, 4,247 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1919 and a map from 1964 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Monte Vista, and how to reach them.
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 Monte Vista.
Monte Vista carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Colorado (mostly inland flooding), has a shorter frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
Property crime runs at 53.3 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Colorado rate, most of it theft.
The property crime rate in Monte Vista is 53.3 per 1,000 residents. Monte Vista reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 94% report less.
| Monte Vista | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 53.3 per 1,000 residents | 15.2 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.3 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Monte Vista School District No. C-8. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Metz Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 2–5 | Grades 2–5 | 253 | C+ |
| Monte Vista Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 272 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CO on state tests and graduation
Home values rose 34% in five years, to about $268K, against 6% across Colorado. The median property tax bill is $961, against $2,602 across Colorado, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
60% of Monte Vista households own their home. The typical Monte Vista home is worth about $268,000, up 1.1% in a year, 49% below the Colorado typical home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 92% of Colorado towns; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
Monte Vista’s FEMA risk score is 20 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The average commute for its 1,740 working residents takes 16 minutes, against 25.2 across Colorado.
About one in 5 of Monte Vista’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Monte Vista has added 78 jobs, to 1,244 in 2023. The top destinations are Alamosa (18%), Del Norte (5%) and Center (4%).
| Monte Vista | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 22% | 7.5% | 8% |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Monte Vista 2w weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 92 days, shorter than in 99% of U.S. towns.
Monte Vista has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 2° and about 35 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 9,328 U.S. towns with household incomes like Monte Vista’s, it is healthier than 52%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
27% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Monte Vista. Only 4 of the 159 Colorado towns we compare have a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Monte Vista. 22% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Monte Vista.
| Monte Vista | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 10% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 15% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 12% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 8.4% | 12% |
| What stands out | Monte Vista | CO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 14.3% | 19% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 74.4% | 69.5% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 20.1% | 9.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
30.9% of residents live below the poverty line, against 9.4% across Colorado, which weighs on its D− for jobs and income.
Adults 18 to 34 are 20% of residents (25% statewide); children under 18 are 25% of residents (21% statewide). Monte Vista has lost 5.9% of its people since 2020, down to 4,005 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 37% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 46% across Colorado.
| Monte Vista | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 15% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 25% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 45% | 29% |
| Median age | 36.9 years | 38.4 years | 40.5 years |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.9 points. Across Colorado, 49.3% of residents are women.
| Monte Vista | CO | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.3% | 10.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.7% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.4% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.9% | 15.7% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 25.6% | 14.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 6.7% | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.3% | 11.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 5.4% | 9.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 5.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 18.1% | 7.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.4% | 19.7% | 26% |
| Some college | 12.9% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 4.4% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.2% | 28.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,000, single groups can be off by several points
| Monte Vista | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 1.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.4% | 7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chapman Park | 0.5 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Monte Vista; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Monte Vista residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Colorado.
7 places in Monte Vista on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Rio Grande County, Colorado, United States
The City of Monte Vista is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Rio Grande County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 4,247 at the 2020 Census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Monte Vista grades D overall, better than 9% of U.S. towns and #152 of 158 in Colorado. It grades C for health, D for safety and C− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
2 notable people were born here, including Myron Thompson and Greg Smith.
