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Towns / Colorado

Buena Vista, Colorado

Buena Vista is a small town of about 3,200 people in Chaffee County, Colorado, about 8,000 feet above sea level. It's growing fast: its population is up 13% since 2020. A typical home costs about 7.3 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Denver, is about 93 miles away as the crow flies.

Boom town

Population
3,248
up 13% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$572,700
Chaffee County prices up 16% since 2022
Household income
$78,323
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Colorado
97.5
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
22 miles
Salida, CO
To Denver
93 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 2.5% below the U.S. average in the parts of Colorado outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 7.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 0.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 5.3 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byHeart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center in Salida, about 22 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityDenver is about 93 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Buena Vista meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

Boom town. The population is up 13% since 2020. Growing fast, with rising home values. Watch for chain stores and big apartment complexes: the small-town feel may not last.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$572,700U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 16%Chaffee County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$2,020 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$78,323U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
46%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,716 a yearColorado: $2,602
Homes built before 1940
7%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
12%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
97.5U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Colorado outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 16% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Colorado outside metro areas, not Buena Vista alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
3,2482020: 2,865
Median age
36 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
5%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (29%); other services (11%)
Average commute
14 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
16%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
7%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center, Salida, CO, about 22 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 1 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: St. Anthony Summit Medical Center, Frisco, CO, about 52 miles away. Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

4 public schools in Buena Vista, run by Buena Vista School District No. R-31.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Colorado's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with any internet subscription
85%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
11°F
July average high
83°F
Days 90°F or hotter
5 a year
Nights at or below freezing
208 a year
Rain and melted snow
9.9 inches a year
Snow
49 inches a year
Elevation
8,001 feet

Weather station: Buena Vista 2S (1 mile away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center, Colorado Springs, Denver.

Chaffee County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

20 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Behrman Ranch, Comanche Drive-In, Head Lettuce Day-Collegiate Peaks Stampede Rodeo Grounds and McFadden Brothers Ranch East Headquarters.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument44 miles
  • Curecanti National Recreation Area51 miles

Read about Buena Vista's history on Wikipedia.

Know Buena Vista?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Johnson Village, CO (unincorporated)129 people, 2 miles
  • Nathrop, CO (unincorporated)187 people, 7 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.