Town · Rio Grande County, Colorado

Del Norte, Colorado

Del Norte is a town in Rio Grande County, Colorado. It has 1,653 residents. Del Norte, Colorado has a quality-of-life score of 41 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #9,190 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Colorado it ranks #165 of 220 cities and towns. It ranks best on time spent in the emergency room (low), hot days (low) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low). It ranks worst on primary care shortage (high), flu vaccinations (low) and broadband subscriptions (low).

41Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #9,190 of 15,651 cities and towns
Colorado: #165 of 220 in CO
Population: 1,653 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,534.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 0819795

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 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.

Safety32#10,642/15,637
Economy19#12,702/15,631
Housing33#10,097/14,977
Health34#10,336/15,609
Healthcare13#13,583/15,650
Environment98#302/15,453
Education41#9,230/15,649
Infrastructure20#12,542/15,650
Community86#2,260/15,651
Leisure & amenities89#1,696/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Del Norte, Colorado ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Rio Grande 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

Time spent in the emergency room · low45 min
100/100Colorado 136 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesRio Grande County value
Hot days · low0 days
100/100Colorado 23 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationRio Grande County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.2 µg/m³
99/100Colorado 5.8 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyRio Grande County value
Grocery stores · high4.5 /10k
99/100Colorado 1.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsRio Grande County value
Public EV charging ports · high19.8 /10k
96/100Colorado 13.0 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyRio Grande County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.35%
96/100Colorado 0.50%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090

Weaknesses

Primary care shortage · high20.0
1/100Colorado 4.0United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationRio Grande County value
Flu vaccinations · low24.0%
2/100Colorado 46.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRio Grande County value
Broadband subscriptions · low74.8%
3/100Colorado 93.5%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Drug overdose deaths · high40.0 /100k
3/100Colorado 28.0 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataRio Grande County value
Injury deaths · high149 /100k
3/100Colorado 97 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRio Grande County value
Math scores · low2.50
4/100Colorado 3.06United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRio Grande County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,567 (2015-2019) → 1,653 (2020-2024)
+5.5%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
51.4% (2015-2019) → 74.8% (2020-2024)
+23 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
10.9% (2015-2019) → 27.7% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Child poverty rateImproving
24.0% (2015-2019) → 7.8% (2020-2024)
−16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.6× (2015-2019) → 4.5× (2020-2024)
+76%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
High school diploma or higherImproving
78.8% (2015-2019) → 91.8% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%

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, Del Norte, Colorado improved on 4 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 6 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.

Improved4

High school++13 points78.8% → 91.8%
Bachelor's++17 points10.9% → 27.7%
Uninsured−8.7 points16.6% → 7.8%
Broadband+23 points51.4% → 74.8%

Declined2

Price / income+2.0×2.6× → 4.5×
Inequality+0.0980.384 → 0.482

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Del Norte, Colorado between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.5 min2015-2019	17.8 min2020-2024	+1.3 min	Within the margin of error	34%
Bachelor's degree or higher	10.9%2015-2019	27.7%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	98%
Broadband subscriptions	51.4%2015-2019	74.8%2020-2024	+23 points	Improved	94%
Effective property tax rate	0.43%2015-2019	0.35%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	32%
High school diploma or higher	78.8%2015-2019	91.8%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	98%
Home price to income ratio	2.6×2015-2019	4.5×2020-2024	+2.0×	Declined	4%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3842015-2019	0.4822020-2024	+0.098	Declined	5%
Median household income	$33,3002015-2019	$40,7002020-2024	+22%	Within the margin of error	38%
Poverty rate	15.6%2015-2019	18.5%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	21%
Rent as share of income	25.5%2015-2019	28.7%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Rent-burdened households	32.9%2015-2019	45.8%2020-2024	+13 points	Within the margin of error	18%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	16.6%2015-2019	7.8%2020-2024	−8.7 points	Improved	95%

“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 Del Norte, Colorado five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Del Norte, 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, Del Norte, Colorado itself moved −6.7 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

1,653 residents (±241)

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

844 households (±113)

Del Norte, Colorado
Colorado share

Under $25k32%†273
$25k–50k27%†230
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

844 households (±113)

Del Norte, Colorado
Colorado share

Own68%575
Rent32%269

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

810 workers (±164)

Del Norte, Colorado
Colorado share

Drive alone71%577
Carpool5.6%†45
Public transit1.5%†12

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 Rio Grande County, the county holding most of Del Norte's residents.

Rio Grande County has 374 employer establishments, 334 for every 10,000 residents (1.35× the US rate of 248; 1.08× Colorado's), with 2,894 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,119. The Census Bureau also counts 1,243 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 374; 1,243 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 334; US 248 · Colorado 309
Paid employees: 2,894
Average annual pay: $42,119; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	42	37.5	2.42×More than typical	134	$47,567	123
Restaurants and other eating places	26	23.2	1.26×More than typical	295	$20,549	13
Lessors of real estate	21	18.8	1.52×More than typical	64	$44,719	104
Full-service restaurants	16	14.3	1.86×More than typical	145	$24,455	3
Ambulatory health care services	15	13.4	0.64×Fewer than typical	104	$43,029	50
Building equipment contractors	15	13.4	2.23×More than typical	42	$48,119	17
Religious organizations	13	11.6	2.09×More than typical	50	$17,640	—
Traveler accommodation	13	11.6	6.43×More than typical	89	$15,933	7
Other specialty trade contractors	12	10.7	4.27×More than typical	32	$80,656	56
Construction of buildings	10	8.9	1.18×About typical	30	$32,833	86
RV parks and recreational camps	9	8	33.9×Too few to compare	37	$68,811	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	9	8	1.19×Too few to compare	19	$20,789	91

Rank places for an industry Open Rio Grande County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 11,196 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: Del Norte is mostly in Rio Grande County.

See federal money in Rio Grande 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.

Del Norte, Colorado is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Jeff HurdR-CO-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 96%Missed 0.6%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

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

Rio Grande County61100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Rio Grande 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
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/0819795

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends