City · Gunnison County, Colorado

Gunnison, Colorado

Gunnison is a city in Gunnison County, Colorado. It has 6,766 residents. Gunnison, Colorado has a quality-of-life score of 74 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,123 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Colorado it ranks #92 of 220 cities and towns. It ranks best on arts, entertainment and recreation (high), hot days (low) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low). It ranks worst on suicide rate (high), job growth (low) and mental health care shortage (high).

74High

Quality-of-life score: #4,123 of 15,651 cities and towns
Colorado: #92 of 220 in CO
Population: 6,766 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 1,395.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 0833640

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.

Safety54#7,166/15,637
Economy27#11,432/15,631
Housing16#12,520/14,977
Health76#3,744/15,609
Healthcare42#9,144/15,650
Environment77#3,516/15,453
Education61#6,151/15,649
Infrastructure95#787/15,650
Community97#447/15,651
Leisure & amenities100#31/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Arts, entertainment and recreation · high28.1 /10k
100/100Colorado 6.9 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGunnison County value
Hot days · low0 days
100/100Colorado 23 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationGunnison County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low3.9 µg/m³
100/100Colorado 5.8 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyGunnison County value
Restaurants and bars · high27.0 /10k
99/100Colorado 9.4 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGunnison County value
Preventable hospital stays · low1,136 /100k
99/100Colorado 1,686 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGunnison County value
Public EV charging ports · high28.1 /10k
98/100Colorado 13.0 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyGunnison County value

Weaknesses

Suicide rate · high31.2 /100k
3/100Colorado 22.4 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataGunnison County value
Job growth · low-4.3%
3/100Colorado -0.7%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataGunnison County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100Colorado 12.2United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationGunnison County value
Drought exposure · high94%
4/100Colorado 70%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAGunnison County value
Pharmacies · low0.6 /10k
4/100Colorado 0.9 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGunnison County value
Distance to an airport · high122 mi
5/100Colorado 40 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauGunnison County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
6,403 (2015-2019) → 6,766 (2020-2024)
+5.7%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
8.8% (2015-2019) → 40.3% (2020-2024)
+31 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
New homes permittedWorsening
6.3 /1k (2021) → 0.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−93%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
85.0% (2015-2019) → 96.1% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$40,893 (2015-2019) → $62,189 (2020-2024)
+52%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Average commute timeWorsening
13.3 min (2015-2019) → 18.4 min (2020-2024)
+39%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min

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, Gunnison, Colorado improved on 3 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 moved within the margin of error and 1 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.

Improved3

Uninsured−7.6 points12.9% → 5.4%
Household income+52%$40,893 → $62,189
Broadband+11 points85.0% → 96.1%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Gunnison, Colorado between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	13.3 min2015-2019	18.4 min2020-2024	+5.1 min	Within the margin of error	10%
Bachelor's degree or higher	56.2%2015-2019	60.3%2020-2024	+4.1 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Broadband subscriptions	85.0%2015-2019	96.1%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	65%
Effective property tax rate	0.52%2015-2019	0.30%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	62%
High school diploma or higher	98.3%2015-2019	97.2%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	21%
Home price to income ratio	6.0×2015-2019	7.4×2020-2024	+1.4×	Within the margin of error	10%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4402015-2019	0.4232020-2024	−0.017	Within the margin of error	65%
Median household income	$40,8932015-2019	$62,1892020-2024	+52%	Improved	86%
Poverty rate	22.9%2015-2019	22.1%2020-2024	−0.8 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Rent as share of income	31.6%2015-2019	38.2%2020-2024	+6.6 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Rent-burdened households	53.3%2015-2019	60.0%2020-2024	+6.7 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Unemployment rate	7.8%2015-2019	6.3%2020-2024	−1.5 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.9%2015-2019	5.4%2020-2024	−7.6 points	Improved	93%

“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 Gunnison, Colorado five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Gunnison, 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, Gunnison, Colorado itself moved +0.1 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

6,766 residents (±17)

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

3,046 households (±221)

Gunnison, Colorado
Colorado share

Under $25k18%†545
$25k–50k24%†725
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

3,046 households (±221)

Gunnison, Colorado
Colorado share

Own49%1,483
Rent51%1,563

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

3,763 workers (±425)

Gunnison, Colorado
Colorado share

Drive alone57%2,155
Carpool14%†533
Public transit7.7%†

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

Gunnison County has 1,191 employer establishments, 686 for every 10,000 residents (2.76× the US rate of 248; 2.22× Colorado's), with 7,194 paid employees at an average annual pay of $46,633. The Census Bureau also counts 2,886 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,191; 2,886 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 686; US 248 · Colorado 309
Paid employees: 7,194
Average annual pay: $46,633; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	142	81.8	5.28×More than typical	462	$69,385	256
Lessors of real estate	99	57	4.63×More than typical	235	$57,498	481
Construction of buildings	91	52.4	6.93×More than typical	324	$62,488	163
Restaurants and other eating places	73	42.1	2.29×More than typical	1,022	$30,495	10
Services to buildings and dwellings	53	30.5	4.53×More than typical	145	$46,959	226
Real estate agents and brokers	50	28.8	5.92×More than typical	61	$74,869	57
Building finishing contractors	44	25.3	6.67×More than typical	148	$59,439	107
Ambulatory health care services	43	24.8	1.19×About typical	152	$58,072	154
Management, scientific and technical consulting	41	23.6	3.52×More than typical	61	$105,066	130
Full-service restaurants	38	21.9	2.85×More than typical	630	$33,876	7
Building equipment contractors	37	21.3	3.54×More than typical	143	$65,441	27
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	37	21.3	6.76×More than typical	105	$71,352	33

Rank places for an industry Open Gunnison County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 17,359 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: Gunnison is mostly in Gunnison County.

See federal money in Gunnison 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.

Gunnison, 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.

Gunnison County85100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Gunnison 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/0833640

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends