City Profile

Pueblo, Colorado

USA · Comprehensive city data and intelligence

Overall Score

Pueblo, Colorado, is a historic industrial and cultural hub nestled along the Arkansas River in the southern portion of the state. Known historically as the 'Steel City' due to its prominent steel-making legacy anchored by EVRAZ Rocky Mountain Steel, the city offers a distinct blend of gritty industrial heritage, Spanish-Mexican heritage, and a resilient, blue-collar character. People are often drawn to Pueblo for its lower cost of living compared to the northern front range metros like Denver and Colorado Springs, alongside more than 300 days of sunshine each year.

The city's rich history is reflected in its diverse neighborhoods, classic turn-of-the-century architecture, and vibrant cultural traditions, including the famous Colorado State Fair and the annual Chile & Frijoles Festival celebrating the signature Pueblo green chile. The community vibe is tight-knit and unpretentious, appealing to retirees, families, and remote workers seeking a more relaxed pace of life with authentic historic charm.

Surrounded by open plains and dramatic mountain vistas in the distance, Pueblo provides an appealing mix of urban amenities and outdoor accessibility. The Historic Arkansas Riverwalk serves as a downtown focal point, offering boating, dining, and scenic walkways reminiscent of San Antonio's River Walk. As southern Colorado's economic anchor, Pueblo balances its rich past with ongoing efforts at downtown revitalization and alternative energy development.

About Colorado

Colorado is characterized by its diverse geography, ranging from the Rocky Mountains to the Eastern Plains, offering a lifestyle that blends natural beauty with community charm and extensive outdoor recreation opportunities. The state's economy is robust and diversified, with major industries including aerospace, bioscience, technology, energy and natural resources, financial services, and a strong tourism sector. Living in Colorado is generally more expensive than the national average, with housing costs being a primary driver. The climate is diverse, featuring four distinct seasons with abundant sunshine, though it can experience rapid weather shifts, including hot summers, cold winters, and occasional extreme weather events like flash floods and strong winds.

110,404

Population

$58K

Avg Salary

Cost Index

47.6

Quality Score

How this 48/100 was calculated five components, with every reading behind them

Component	Readings used	Points	Weight	Contributes
Safety	Safety score: 45 / 100	45.0	30%	13.5
Affordability	Cost of living index (100 = national baseline): 92.0	53.8	25%	13.4
Economy & jobs	Median household income: $56,664 Income needed to live here: $52,000 Unemployment rate: 6.6%	39.4	20%	7.9
Growth	Population growth rate: no usable reading Job growth rate: 1.1%	42.0	15%	6.3
Business climate assessment	Business climate assessment: 65 / 100	65.0	10%	6.5
Overall score				47.6

Provenance. These figures were produced by the research pass recorded as Gemini (Tier 2 (reasoned), q=70), last refreshed 11 October 2026. They are researched estimates drawn from public sources, not a licensed data feed.

Each component is scored against fixed published endpoints, so this number is comparable with any other city and does not move as the dataset grows. Scoring framework 2026.10 — full methodology, weights and accepted ranges.

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Performance

Quality Scores

Business

Livability

Affordability

Growth

Expenses

Cost of Living

Pueblo is widely recognized as one of the most affordable urban areas in the state of Colorado, with an overall cost of living running approximately 8% below the national average. This affordability is largely driven by housing costs, which sit significantly lower than the statewide averages found in Denver or Boulder, making it an attractive destination for budget-conscious buyers and renters.

While housing remains a major financial advantage, other routine expenses such as utility bills, groceries, and transportation closely track or slightly trail national baselines. State income taxes and local utility costs can fluctuate depending on municipal utility rates, but overall, residents enjoy substantially lower monthly overhead costs compared to nearly every other mid-sized city along the Colorado Front Range.

Average Rent

$1,339/mo

Groceries

$400/mo

Transport

$120/mo

Utilities

$180/mo

Healthcare

$220/mo

Gym membership (monthly)

$45.00

Cinema ticket

$13.00

Restaurant meal (mid-range)

$22.00

Monthly groceries

$400.00

Doctor visit (without insurance)

$140.00

Income

Salary Insights

Pueblo's economy is historically rooted in manufacturing, steel production, and logistics, though it has increasingly diversified into healthcare, education, retail, and renewable energy technology. Major employers include EVRAZ Rocky Mountain Steel, Parkview Medical Center, St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center, Pueblo School District 60, and Colorado State University Pueblo. The local job market reflects a steady blue-collar and service-oriented foundation, alongside a growing emphasis on green technology and aerospace manufacturing initiatives.

For remote workers and professionals, Pueblo offers an increasingly viable base due to its high-speed fiber availability in select areas and drastically lower cost of living compared to nearby tech hubs. While average local salaries trail behind national and statewide medians, the lower cost of entry for housing and overhead creates a balanced economic ecosystem for entrepreneurs and remote personnel looking to stretch their earnings.

The average salary in Pueblo is $58,000 per year. You would need approximately $52,000 to live comfortably.

Employment

Top Industries

Retail Trade +1.00% Manufacturing +1.20% Education +1.50% Healthcare +2.40% Hospitality and Tourism +1.80%

Weather

Climate

🌡️

57°F

Avg Temp

☀️

90°F

Summer High

❄️

22°F

Winter Low

🌧️

10.80"

Annual Rain

💧

45.00%

Humidity

🌤️

313

Sunny Days

Mobility

Transport

Getting around Pueblo is predominantly car-dependent, with most residents relying on personal vehicles to commute via Interstate 25 and US Highway 50. The Pueblo Transit system provides fixed-route bus services across the core city limits, though service frequencies and coverage are optimized primarily for basic urban transit rather than comprehensive regional commuting.

Walkability is concentrated primarily in Downtown Pueblo, the Mesa Junction, and historic commercial corridors where sidewalk grids are well-established. Average commute times remain manageable at around 27 to 28 minutes, and traffic congestion is minimal compared to the major metro bottlenecks further north along the Front Range.

28 min

Avg Commute

42.00/10

Transit Score

52.00/10

Walkability

High

Car Dependency

At a Glance

Pros & Cons

Advantages

Overall cost of living runs approximately 8% below the national average, making it Colorado's most affordable urban center.

Enjoyable climate featuring roughly 313 sunny days per year and mild winter variations.

Abundant outdoor recreation centered around Lake Pueblo State Park for boating, fishing, and hiking.

Rich cultural identity highlighted by local traditions, historic architecture, and the famous annual Chile & Frijoles Festival.

Significantly more accessible housing market with median home values well below state and national norms.

Drawbacks

Property crime rates and overall crime indices remain higher than the national median.

Local average wages and median household incomes trail significantly behind state and national benchmarks.

Economic mobility and job diversification are more limited compared to northern Colorado tech centers.

Summer high temperatures frequently exceed 90°F, requiring robust air conditioning and heat management.

Public transportation options are relatively limited, necessitating regular reliance on personal vehicle ownership.

Head to Head

Compare Pueblo

Pueblo VS Grants Pass Pueblo VS Cincinnati Pueblo VS Binghamton Pueblo VS Centennial

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Colorado Springs

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Community Q&A

Questions about Pueblo

What people ask about living in and moving to Pueblo, Colorado.

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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Urblytica benchmarks its Cost of Living Index against a United States national average baseline of 100. A score of 115 means a city is approximately 15% more expensive than the national average, while a score of 85 indicates it is 15% more affordable. This composite calculation is weighted across six primary expenditure categories: housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, healthcare, and miscellaneous goods.

Urblytica aggregates housing data from multiple authoritative sources, including Multiple Listing Service (MLS) feeds, municipal property tax registries, the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), and verified historical deed transactions. This multi-tier aggregation ensures precision in tracking median home values and rental rates.

A municipality must meet minimum data-density thresholds—including consistent reporting population samples from the U.S. Census and active residential or commercial real estate transaction feeds—to ensure statistical significance before a complete scoring profile is published.

When primary agencies (such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics or U.S. Census Bureau) issue historical data revisions or benchmark corrections, Urblytica's data pipeline automatically re-indexes affected historical archives to maintain longitudinal trend accuracy.

U.S. affordability calculations incorporate federal income tax brackets, state-specific income tax rates, and local municipal tax variations to evaluate the true net tax drag on median household earnings across different states and cities.

Local county and municipal property tax millage rates are factored directly into the housing component of the cost-of-living index to reflect recurring annual tax burdens for homeowners.

The platform aggregates state sales taxes alongside county and city surtaxes to measure consumer basket purchasing power parity accurately across different retail jurisdictions.

Utility calculations apply regional seasonal consumption weightings, incorporating high summer air conditioning loads in southern states and heavy winter heating demands in northern states.

The index tracks average out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, routine outpatient visit costs, and regional health insurance premium benchmarks published by federal health agencies.

Educational metrics aggregate state standardized testing benchmarks, student-to-teacher ratios, high school graduation rates, and per-pupil expenditure data published by state departments of education.

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