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Mancos, Colorado

Mancos is a small town of about 1,300 people in Montezuma County, Colorado, about 7,000 feet above sea level. It has grown about 6% since 2020. A typical home costs about 5.4 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 249 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,266
up 5.7% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$353,200
Montezuma County prices up 14% since 2022
Household income
$65,833
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Colorado
97.5
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
15 miles
Cortez, CO
To Denver
249 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 5.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood2 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.5 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 7.7 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 bySouthwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez, about 15 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityDenver is about 249 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 Mancos 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
$353,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 14%Montezuma County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$820 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$65,833U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
75%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,114 a yearColorado: $2,602
Homes built before 1940
18%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
14%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%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 14% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Colorado outside metro areas, not Mancos 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
1,2662020: 1,198
Median age
51.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
29%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
19%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
36%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
Schools, health care and social services (25%); construction (15%); retail (12%)
Unemployment rate
2%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
23 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
14%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
11%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Southwest Memorial Hospital, Cortez, CO, about 15 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Mercy Regional Medical Center, Durango, CO, about 24 miles away. Medicare gives it 5 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

4 public schools in Mancos, run by Mancos School District Re-6.

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
72%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
91%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
12°F
July average high
85°F
Days 90°F or hotter
10 a year
Nights at or below freezing
194 a year
Rain and melted snow
15.7 inches a year
Snow
57 inches a year
Elevation
7,012 feet

Weather station: Mancos 1SW (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: Southwest Memorial Hospital, Grand Junction, Denver.

Montezuma 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

6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Lost Canyon Archeological District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Mesa Verde National Park6 miles
  • Yucca House National Monument22 miles
  • Hovenweep National Monument24 miles
  • Aztec Ruins National Monument38 miles

Read about Mancos's history on Wikipedia.

Know Mancos?

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

  • Dolores, CO933 people, 14 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.