Town · Summit County, Colorado

Keystone, Colorado

Keystone is a town in Summit County, Colorado, part of the Breckenridge, CO metro area. It has 1,216 residents. Keystone, Colorado has a quality-of-life score of 90 out of 100 (very high), ranking #1,638 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Colorado it ranks #37 of 220 cities and towns. It ranks best on life expectancy (high), restaurants and bars (high) and public EV charging ports (high). It ranks worst on comfortable days (low), drought exposure (high) and job growth (low).

90Very high

Quality-of-life score: #1,638 of 15,651 cities and towns
Colorado: #37 of 220 in CO
Population: 1,216 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 665.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 0840550

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 70 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.

Safety49#8,044/15,637
Economy35#10,117/15,631
Housing57#6,438/14,977
Health73#4,150/15,609
Healthcare83#2,594/15,650
Environment81#2,975/15,453
Education82#2,874/15,649
Infrastructure98#348/15,650
Community98#252/15,651
Leisure & amenities96#582/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Keystone, Colorado ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Summit 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 · high97.8 yrs
100/100Colorado 78.7 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSummit County value
Restaurants and bars · high42.2 /10k
100/100Colorado 9.4 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSummit County value
Public EV charging ports · high79.6 /10k
100/100Colorado 13.0 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergySummit County value
Preventable hospital stays · low572 /100k
100/100Colorado 1,686 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSummit County value
Public transit commuters · high26.7%
100/100Colorado 1.6%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301High uncertainty
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low3.7 µg/m³
100/100Colorado 5.8 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2019Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySummit County value

Weaknesses

Comfortable days · low19.9%
0/100Colorado 26.2%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSummit County value
Drought exposure · high100%
1/100Colorado 70%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAASummit County value
Job growth · low-4.1%
4/100Colorado -0.7%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataSummit County value
Home price to income ratio · high24.9×
6/100Colorado 5.7×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Suicide rate · high26.0 /100k
7/100Colorado 22.4 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataSummit County value
New homes permitted · low0.0 /1k
13/100Colorado 5.6 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data

Trends

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

PopulationRising
908 (2015-2019) → 1,216 (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
100.0% (2015-2019) → 28.5% (2020-2024)
−72 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
9.6× (2015-2019) → 24.9× (2020-2024)
+159%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Public transit commutersImproving
4.4% (2015-2019) → 26.7% (2020-2024)
+22 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
73.5% (2015-2019) → 54.3% (2020-2024)
−19 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
83.0% (2015-2019) → 100.0% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Keystone, Colorado improved on 2 of 8 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 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.

Improved2

Rent burden−72 points100.0% → 28.5%
Rent / income−13 points35.8% → 23.1%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 8 measures

Change of every measure of Keystone, Colorado between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Bachelor's degree or higher	73.5%2015-2019	54.3%2020-2024	−19 points	Within the margin of error	0%
Broadband subscriptions	83.0%2015-2019	100.0%2020-2024	+17 points	Within the margin of error	85%
Child poverty rate	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	42%
High school diploma or higher	96.6%2015-2019	100.0%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Within the margin of error	72%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5342015-2019	0.4792020-2024	−0.056	Within the margin of error	86%
Poverty rate	21.3%2015-2019	26.3%2020-2024	+5.1 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Rent as share of income	35.8%2015-2019	23.1%2020-2024	−13 points	Improved	96%
Rent-burdened households	100.0%2015-2019	28.5%2020-2024	−72 points	Improved	100%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 10944 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 Keystone, Colorado five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Keystone, 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.

No place that looked like Keystone, Colorado five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

For comparison, Keystone, Colorado itself moved +37.1 points in standing on average over the same 6 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

1,216 residents (±358)

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

641 households (±240)

Keystone, Colorado
Colorado share

Under $25k20%†125
$25k–50k10%†65
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

641 households (±240)

Keystone, Colorado
Colorado share

Own27%†170
Rent73%†471

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−51.7 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

906 workers (±294)

Keystone, Colorado
Colorado share

Drive alone18%†162
Carpool0.0%0
Public transit27%†242

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 Breckenridge, 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 Summit County, the county holding most of Keystone's residents.

Summit County has 2,306 employer establishments, 736 for every 10,000 residents (2.96× the US rate of 248; 2.38× Colorado's), with 22,915 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,534. The Census Bureau also counts 4,996 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,306; 4,996 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 736; US 248 · Colorado 309
Paid employees: 22,915
Average annual pay: $42,534; US $68,342

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

Lessors of real estate	327	104	8.47×More than typical	1,061	$69,388	1,136
Specialty trade contractors	237	75.6	4.88×More than typical	896	$75,890	448
Restaurants and other eating places	220	70.2	3.82×More than typical	4,652	$29,678	18
Real estate agents and brokers	215	68.6	14.1×More than typical	225	$117,253	234
Full-service restaurants	133	42.4	5.53×More than typical	3,443	$31,307	10
Services to buildings and dwellings	118	37.6	5.58×More than typical	537	$45,799	385
Construction of buildings	100	31.9	4.22×More than typical	183	$89,967	207
Ambulatory health care services	92	29.4	1.41×More than typical	687	$80,146	170
Building equipment contractors	80	25.5	4.24×More than typical	328	$63,259	60
Building finishing contractors	72	23	6.04×More than typical	206	$82,553	189
Clothing and accessories stores	65	20.7	5.72×More than typical	443	$28,713	41
Management, scientific and technical consulting	64	20.4	3.04×More than typical	159	$96,258	238

Rank places for an industry Open Summit County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 31,343 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 $13.5K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Keystone, Colorado: $11.07 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $13.5K
Per resident: $11.07; US $1,994
Sole-source: 43%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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$13.5K100%

Top recipients

X FIELD SERVICES LLC$7,73657%
PLOW PALS LLC$5,73043%

Spending by fiscal year

41.8KFY2017
32.8KFY2018
-4.5KFY2019
11.8KFY2021
10.7KFY2022
245.8KFY2023
40.4KFY2024
13.5KFY2026

Top industries (NAICS)

Highway, street, and bridge construction · 2373$7,73657%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$5,73043%

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 Keystone, Colorado, so they do not add up across cities.

Keystone, Colorado's figures are part of those of Summit County, CO ($50.8M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Summit 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.

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

House

Joe NeguseD-CO-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 0.1%

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.

Summit County94100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Breckenridge, CO98

Other cities and towns in Summit 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/0840550

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends