Town · Eagle County, Colorado

Basalt, Colorado

Basalt is a town in Eagle County, Colorado, part of the Edwards, CO metro area. It has 4,335 residents. Basalt, Colorado has a quality-of-life score of 95 out of 100 (very high), ranking #816 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Colorado it ranks #10 of 220 cities and towns. It ranks best on life expectancy (high), public EV charging ports (high) and preventable hospital stays (low). It ranks worst on drought exposure (high), home price to income ratio (high) and distance to an emergency room (high).

95Very high

Quality-of-life score: #816 of 15,651 cities and towns
Colorado: #10 of 220 in CO
Population: 4,335 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 2,143.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 0804935

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety79#3,206/15,637
Economy78#3,479/15,631
Housing32#10,167/14,977
Health93#1,096/15,609
Healthcare76#3,724/15,650
Environment89#1,728/15,453
Education78#3,393/15,649
Infrastructure85#2,314/15,650
Community93#1,100/15,651
Leisure & amenities99#175/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Basalt, Colorado ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Eagle County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Life expectancy · high89.4 yrs
100/100Colorado 78.7 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEagle County value
Public EV charging ports · high54.2 /10k
100/100Colorado 13.0 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyEagle County value
Preventable hospital stays · low866 /100k
100/100Colorado 1,686 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEagle County value
Hot days · low0 days
100/100Colorado 23 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationEagle County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.0 µg/m³
99/100Colorado 5.8 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyEagle County value
Restaurants and bars · high25.8 /10k
99/100Colorado 9.4 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEagle County value

Weaknesses

Drought exposure · high100%
1/100Colorado 70%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAEagle County value
Home price to income ratio · high11.1×
2/100Colorado 5.7×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Distance to an emergency room · high16.5 mi
6/100Colorado 5.2 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesEagle County value
Job growth · low-3.2%
6/100Colorado -0.7%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataEagle County value
Pharmacies · low0.7 /10k
7/100Colorado 0.9 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEagle County value
Distance to an airport · high111 mi
7/100Colorado 40 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauEagle County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
3,847 (2015-2019) → 4,335 (2020-2024)
+13%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Public transit commutersImproving
4.1% (2015-2019) → 14.5% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%
Child poverty rateImproving
9.1% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−9.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
New homes permittedWorsening
7.9 /1k (2021) → 4.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−44%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Home price to income ratioWorsening
8.0× (2015-2019) → 11.2× (2020-2024)
+39%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Median household incomeImproving
$81,038 (2015-2019) → $105,855 (2020-2024)
+31%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Basalt, Colorado improved on 1 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 8 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+3.5 points93.7% → 97.2%

Declined1

Price / income+3.2×8.0× → 11.2×

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Basalt, Colorado between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.8 min2015-2019	26.7 min2020-2024	−0.2 min	Within the margin of error	50%
Bachelor's degree or higher	58.8%2015-2019	57.2%2020-2024	−1.6 points	Within the margin of error	18%
Broadband subscriptions	93.7%2015-2019	97.2%2020-2024	+3.5 points	Improved	23%
Effective property tax rate	0.42%2015-2019	0.44%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	14%
High school diploma or higher	96.8%2015-2019	99.2%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	63%
Home price to income ratio	8.0×2015-2019	11.2×2020-2024	+3.2×	Declined	1%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4732015-2019	0.4362020-2024	−0.037	Within the margin of error	78%
Median household income	$81,0382015-2019	$105,8552020-2024	+31%	Within the margin of error	57%
Rent as share of income	27.9%2015-2019	24.8%2020-2024	−3.1 points	Within the margin of error	74%
Rent-burdened households	41.7%2015-2019	45.5%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	42%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Basalt, Colorado five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Basalt, Colorado in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Basalt, Colorado itself moved +3.4 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

4,335 residents (±398)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,963 households (±239)

Basalt, Colorado
Colorado share

Under $25k10%†202
$25k–50k6.0%†118
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,963 households (±239)

Basalt, Colorado
Colorado share

Own59%1,164
Rent41%799

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

2,792 workers (±361)

Basalt, Colorado
Colorado share

Drive alone63%1,766
Carpool8.8%†245
Public transit15%†

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Edwards, CO

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Eagle County, the county holding most of Basalt's residents.

Eagle County has 3,664 employer establishments, 669 for every 10,000 residents (2.69× the US rate of 248; 2.17× Colorado's), with 36,282 paid employees at an average annual pay of $56,726. The Census Bureau also counts 8,323 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 3,664; 8,323 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 669; US 248 · Colorado 309
Paid employees: 36,282
Average annual pay: $56,726; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Eagle County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	462	84.3	5.45×More than typical	2,593	$77,347	640
Lessors of real estate	423	77.2	6.27×More than typical	1,944	$66,774	1,882
Real estate agents and brokers	241	44	9.04×More than typical	341	$135,915	290
Construction of buildings	214	39	5.16×More than typical	772	$102,522	345
Restaurants and other eating places	206	37.6	2.05×More than typical	5,111	$32,881	34
Services to buildings and dwellings	183	33.4	4.95×More than typical	1,095	$55,859	436
Building finishing contractors	169	30.8	8.11×More than typical	703	$65,447	303
Ambulatory health care services	163	29.7	1.43×More than typical	1,184	$98,203	288
Building equipment contractors	146	26.6	4.43×More than typical	969	$82,107	72
Full-service restaurants	135	24.6	3.21×More than typical	3,532	$36,461	18
Architectural, engineering and related services	119	21.7	6.23×More than typical	418	$96,512	90
Landscaping services	108	19.7	5.63×More than typical	375	$104,813	110

Rank places for an industry Open Eagle County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 54,807 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Basalt is mostly in Eagle County.

See federal money in Eagle County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Basalt, Colorado is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Edwards, CO97

Other cities and towns in Eagle County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/0804935

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends