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Lamar, Colorado

Lamar is a small town of about 7,600 people in Prowers County, Colorado. It's the county seat. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.9 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 169 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
7,588
down 1.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$152,900
Prowers County prices up 22% since 2022
Household income
$53,188
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Colorado
97.5
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Prowers Medical Center
To Denver
169 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 2.9 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood0 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 11.4 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town6 public schools: 3 elementary, 1 middle, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byProwers Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityDenver is about 169 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 Lamar 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
$152,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 22%Prowers County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$858 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$53,188U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
64%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$441 a yearColorado: $2,602
Homes built before 1940
20%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%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 22% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Colorado outside metro areas, not Lamar 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
7,5882020: 7,697
Median age
33.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
15%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
27%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
21%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%U.S.: 6%
College students
6%share of all residents

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 (34%); construction (10%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (10%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
10 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
5%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
21%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Prowers Medical Center, Lamar, CO, in town. 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: St. Catherine Hospital - Garden City, Garden City, KS, about 95 miles away. Medicare gives it 2 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

6 public schools in Lamar, run by Lamar School District No. Re-2.

Colleges in or next to town: Lamar Community College (under 1,000 students).

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 cable, fiber or DSL internet
75%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
86%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
93°F
Days 90°F or hotter
73 a year
Nights at or below freezing
160 a year
Rain and melted snow
16.2 inches a year
Snow
30 inches a year
Elevation
3,633 feet

Weather station: Lamar (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: Pueblo, Denver.

Prowers County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, not next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 7, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Paulsen Farm, Prowers Country Welfare Housing and Willow Creek Park.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Amache National Historic Site15 miles
  • Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site31 miles
  • Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site44 miles

Read about Lamar's history on Wikipedia.

Know Lamar?

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

  • Wiley, CO433 people, 8 miles
  • McClave, CO (unincorporated)128 people, 13 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.