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Cripple Creek, Colorado

Cripple Creek is a small town of about 1,100 people in Teller County, Colorado, about 9,500 feet above sea level. It's the county seat. It has lost about 3% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 6.8 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 72 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
1,120
down 2.9% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$285,800
Teller County prices up 3.1% since 2022
Household income
$41,840
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Colorado Springs area
100.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
17 miles
Woodland Park, CO
To Denver
72 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 0.7% above the U.S. average in the Colorado Springs metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 6.8 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 0.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 35.9 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byUCHEALTH Pikes Peak Regional Hospital in Woodland Park, about 17 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityDenver is about 72 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 Cripple Creek 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.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$285,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 3.1%Teller County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$41,840U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$477 a yearColorado: $2,602
Homes built since 2010
2%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
13%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
100.7U.S. average = 100 (the Colorado Springs metro area)

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 3.1% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Colorado Springs metro area, not Cripple Creek 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
1,1202020: 1,154
Median age
60 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
36%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
11%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
22%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
5%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
Farming, forestry and mining (13%)
Unemployment rate
10%U.S.: 5%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: UCHEALTH Pikes Peak Regional Hospital, Woodland Park, CO, about 17 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Uch-Memorial Health System, Colorado Springs, CO, about 22 miles away. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

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

2 public schools in Cripple Creek, run by Cripple Creek-Victor School District No. Re-1.

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
79%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
14°F
July average high
76°F
Days 90°F or hotter
0 a year
Nights at or below freezing
198 a year
Rain and melted snow
23.9 inches a year
Snow
134 inches a year
Elevation
9,518 feet

Weather stations: Cripple Creek 3NNW (3 miles away) and Ruxton Park (13 miles away, rain and snow). 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: UCHEALTH Pikes Peak Regional Hospital, Colorado Springs, Denver.

Teller County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Cripple Creek Historic District. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument10 miles
  • Great Sand Dunes National Preserve58 miles

Read about Cripple Creek's history on Wikipedia.

Know Cripple Creek?

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

  • Victor, CO361 people, 3 miles
  • Goldfield, CO (unincorporated)160 people, 4 miles
  • Midland, CO (unincorporated)182 people, 7 miles
  • Florissant, CO (unincorporated)192 people, 15 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.