City · Delta County, Colorado

Delta, Colorado

Delta is a city in Delta County, Colorado. It has 9,421 residents. Delta, Colorado has a quality-of-life score of 34 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,393 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Colorado it ranks #189 of 220 cities and towns. It ranks best on effective property tax rate (low), fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low) and preventable hospital stays (low). It ranks worst on drought exposure (high), broadband subscriptions (low) and distance to an airport (high).

34Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,393 of 15,651 cities and towns
Colorado: #189 of 220 in CO
Population: 9,421 (2020-2024)
Land area: 13 mi²
Density: 709.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 0819850

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.

Safety43#8,850/15,637
Economy14#13,394/15,631
Housing21#11,765/14,977
Health39#9,535/15,609
Healthcare9#14,248/15,650
Environment82#2,828/15,453
Education55#7,099/15,649
Infrastructure14#13,447/15,650
Community76#3,690/15,651
Leisure & amenities61#6,172/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Effective property tax rate · low0.27%
98/100Colorado 0.50%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.7 µg/m³
97/100Colorado 5.8 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyDelta County value
Preventable hospital stays · low1,511 /100k
96/100Colorado 1,686 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDelta County value
Median Air Quality Index · low29
94/100Colorado 482025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyDelta County value
Voter turnout · high78.4%
93/100Colorado 74.4%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionDelta County value
New business applications · high20.0 /1k
90/100Colorado 23.9 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauDelta 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 NOAADelta County value
Broadband subscriptions · low72.3%
1/100Colorado 93.5%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Distance to an airport · high173 mi
1/100Colorado 40 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauDelta County value
Pharmacies · low0.3 /10k
2/100Colorado 0.9 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDelta County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100Colorado 12.2United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationDelta County value
Job growth · low-4.0%
4/100Colorado -0.7%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataDelta County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
8,829 (2015-2019) → 9,421 (2020-2024)
+6.7%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
18.0 /1k (2021) → 2.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−89%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
50.4% (2015-2019) → 62.4% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
4.1× (2015-2019) → 6.3× (2020-2024)
+52%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateWorsening
19.0% (2015-2019) → 26.7% (2020-2024)
+7.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Income inequality (Gini index)Worsening
0.414 (2015-2019) → 0.563 (2020-2024)
+36%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483

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, Delta, Colorado improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 10 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

Bachelor's++6.1 points18.2% → 24.4%

Declined2

Inequality+0.1490.414 → 0.563
Price / income+2.1×4.1× → 6.3×

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Delta, Colorado between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.5 min2015-2019	20.9 min2020-2024	−3.6 min	Within the margin of error	83%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.2%2015-2019	24.4%2020-2024	+6.1 points	Improved	75%
Broadband subscriptions	71.3%2015-2019	72.3%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Child poverty rate	19.0%2015-2019	26.7%2020-2024	+7.7 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Effective property tax rate	0.37%2015-2019	0.27%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	36%
High school diploma or higher	86.2%2015-2019	88.8%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Home price to income ratio	4.1×2015-2019	6.3×2020-2024	+2.1×	Declined	3%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4142015-2019	0.5632020-2024	+0.149	Declined	1%
Median household income	$41,4152015-2019	$45,2502020-2024	+9.3%	Within the margin of error	16%
Poverty rate	16.5%2015-2019	20.5%2020-2024	+4 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Rent as share of income	30.3%2015-2019	34.2%2020-2024	+3.9 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Rent-burdened households	50.4%2015-2019	62.4%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.7%2015-2019	14.3%2020-2024	+1.6 points	Within the margin of error	29%

“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 Delta, Colorado five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Delta, 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, Delta, Colorado itself moved −9.4 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

9,421 residents (±55)

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

3,760 households (±223)

Delta, Colorado
Colorado share

Under $25k29%1,102
$25k–50k27%1,014
$50k–75k15%577

Homes

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

Owners and renters

3,760 households (±223)

Delta, Colorado
Colorado share

Own66%2,480
Rent34%1,280

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

3,475 workers (±370)

Delta, Colorado
Colorado share

Drive alone73%2,521
Carpool11%†375
Public transit2.2%†78

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 Delta County, the county holding most of Delta's residents.

Delta County has 878 employer establishments, 276 for every 10,000 residents (1.11× the US rate of 248; 0.89× Colorado's), with 6,516 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,333. The Census Bureau also counts 3,617 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 878; 3,617 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 276; US 248 · Colorado 309
Paid employees: 6,516
Average annual pay: $45,333; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	101	31.8	2.05×More than typical	326	$53,089	381
Restaurants and other eating places	59	18.6	1.01×About typical	663	$21,919	15
Ambulatory health care services	49	15.4	0.74×Fewer than typical	274	$52,478	149
Lessors of real estate	46	14.5	1.17×About typical	455	$43,360	377
Building equipment contractors	43	13.5	2.25×More than typical	165	$52,036	59
Construction of buildings	32	10.1	1.33×More than typical	68	$62,250	188
Religious organizations	31	9.8	1.76×More than typical	97	$17,784	—
Other specialty trade contractors	30	9.4	3.76×More than typical	82	$52,268	141
Full-service restaurants	29	9.1	1.19×About typical	303	$24,152	10
Real estate agents and brokers	27	8.5	1.75×More than typical	21	$58,000	87
Automotive repair and maintenance	22	6.9	1.37×More than typical	115	$45,217	65
Electrical contractors and wiring installation	22	6.9	2.80×More than typical	116	$52,655	21

Rank places for an industry Open Delta County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 31,786 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

In FY2026, an estimated $170.1K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Delta, Colorado: $18.05 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $170.1K; +228% vs FY2025
Per resident: $18.05; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.1%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Forest Service$129.1K76%
Department of Energy$41K24%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

6.1KFY2017
27.4KFY2018
45.7KFY2019
19.8KFY2020
8.5KFY2021
19.5KFY2022
11.8KFY2023
397.3KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Highway, street, and bridge construction · 2373$101.7K60%
Support activities for crop production · 1151$41K24%
Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying · 2123$25.5K15%
Architectural and structural metals manufacturing · 3323$1,2640.7%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362$3760.2%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$123

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Delta, Colorado, so they do not add up across cities.

Delta, Colorado's figures are part of those of Delta County, CO ($4.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 3.9% of that total.

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

See federal money in Delta 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.

Delta, 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.

Delta County45100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Delta 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/0819850

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends