Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,424, settled in 1885.
The median household income is $48K, and 32% of residents live below the poverty line. Overall it grades C, ranked 132nd of 158 in Colorado. A typical home there costs about $262K, 4.3 years of the county’s $61K median household income. Yuma’s average trip to work is 12 minutes, against 25 minutes in Colorado’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. On health, just 17 of Colorado’s 218 towns do worse. Lett Hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Yuma beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Colorado), ordered by how far Yuma is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 241 in 1890, a low of 139 in 1900, 3,456 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2010 and 3 maps from 1954 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Yuma, 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 Yuma.
Yuma is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has home values rising while Colorado’s fall, but it has poverty well above the Colorado rate.
Values rose 3.1% in the past year while the Colorado typical home fell 1.3%. The median property tax bill is $859, against $2,602 across Colorado, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Yuma’s median rent is $1,040 a month. The typical Yuma home is worth about $262,000, 50% below the Colorado typical home. 61% of Yuma households own their home.
| Yuma | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,040 a month | $1,812 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 61% | 71% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Yuma 1 School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenneth P Morris Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 310 | C+ |
| Yuma High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 228 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CO on state tests and graduation
Yuma has chilly winters and warm summers, with very little rain. The July high in Yuma is 91°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 1,262 working residents takes 12.1 minutes, against 25.2 across Colorado.
Only 3 of the 159 Colorado towns we compare have a lower median household income than Yuma. 36% of working residents work locally in Yuma. The top destinations are Wray (8%), Sterling (3%) and Denver (2%).
| Yuma | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 36% | 7.5% | 8% |
| Median household income | $48,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Yuma's reported crime rate is well below Colorado's. Only 6 of the 93 Colorado towns we compare have a lower property crime rate than Yuma. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Yuma | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.6 per 1,000 residents | 15.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 5,147 U.S. towns with household incomes like Yuma’s, it is healthier than 83%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Yuma beats the Colorado average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 13. Among 159 Colorado towns, just 8 have a higher share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Yuma.
| Yuma | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 10% | 8.1% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 15% | 19% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 71% | 79% |
| What stands out | Yuma | CO |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 20.5% | 11.1% |
| More adults in fair or poor health | 24.2% | 15.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.2% | 5.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1.6 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Yuma County Fairgrounds, at 45 acres.
| Yuma | Colorado towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.1% | 7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 1.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lake Yuma | 0.3 mi | 6 |
| 2. Yuma County Fairgrounds | — | 45 |
| 3. Old Thrashers | — | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 54% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Yuma; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Yuma residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Colorado.
4 notable people were born in Yuma.
City in Colorado, United States
Yuma is a home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Yuma County, Colorado, United States. The population was 3,456 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.
Yuma grades C overall, better than 25% of U.S. towns and #132 of 158 in Colorado. It grades C+ for health and B− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
4 notable people were born here, including Cory Gardner and Don Brown.
