Fort Collins, CO — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Colorado·Fort Collins

Larimer County · Fort Collins · population 170,924

Fort Collins, CO
Image: Wikipedia · Fort Collins, Colorado
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
57
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Fort Collins stands

Steady, no major recent move.

Median home $568,389
1-year -1.3%
5-yr CAGR +3.4%
vs 5-yr peak -3.0%
Population +0.2%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-07$568k$324k$419k$514k$609k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
40/100
Car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
30/100
Minimal transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
81/100
Excellent for remote work
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$2,001/mo$1,447$1,784$2,121202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent118130100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 23.7
Lean rent

At a 23.7 price-to-rent ratio, the math is starting to lean toward renting in Fort Collins. Owner-occupier ROI requires longer holds and the assumption that prices keep appreciating roughly at the rate of rent.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
43 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
56 · w22%
Distance from peak
72 · w18%
Population growth
48 · w16%
Rent YoY
67 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
61 · w10%
Long thesis

Fort Collins has held up across the cycle: home values at $568,389 with +3.4% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Fort Collins's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About Fort Collins

Fort Collins is a city in Larimer County, Colorado, with an estimated population of 170,924. The median home value in Fort Collins is $568,389 as of 2026-04, down 1.3% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +3.4% annual growth (-3.0% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Fort Collins average $2,001 per month, up 3.4% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 57 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Held the highs: currently -3.0% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
○The data is the data: Fort Collins has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Fort Collins (Wikipedia)

Fort Collins is a home rule city in Larimer County, Colorado, United States, and serves as the county seat and most populous municipality of the county. It is the fourth-most populous city in Colorado with a population of 169,810 at the 2020 census, while the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area has an estimated 375,000 residents.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

MayorEmily Francis
Elevation5004 ft
Commissioned1864
Density2,968/sq mi
Named forWilliam O. Collins

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Larimer County right now.

NWS active alerts (CO)Colorado Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Larimer County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods of Fort Collins

128 tracked · ranked by median home value
1Lindenmeir Lake$1,271,060+7.1%
2Greenstone$1,179,280+0.9%
3S Gray Reservoir$1,152,502-3.1%
4Hearthfire$1,027,464+2.9%
5Fossil Lake$998,644+0.3%
6Waverly$985,033+0.2%
7Clarendon Hills$901,063+1.6%
8Fossil Creek$900,342-0.8%
9Trilby Lateral$868,258-19.2%
10Paragon Point$863,263+1.7%
11Terry Lake$785,407+1.3%
12Woodland Park$774,095+0.4%
13Ponds at Overland$765,298+1.0%
14City Park$764,245+2.6%
15Redmond$754,973-0.3%
16Stone Ridge$743,381+0.7%
17Quail Hollow$739,487+0.4%
18Parkwood$729,284+3.4%
19Westbrooke$728,559+1.5%
20The Ridge$726,548-2.0%
21Indian Hills$718,051-0.3%
22Willow Springs$715,704-0.2%
23University Acres$710,762+2.9%
24Windsor Reservoir$708,921-1.5%

See the full neighborhood ranking →

Cities like Fort Collins

Pueblo, CO52 · StableBoulder, CO47 · CoolingGreeley, CO54 · StableBroomfield, CO53 · Stable

Run the numbers for Fort Collins

ToolCan I afford Fort Collins?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Fort Collins rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Fort Collins to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolFort Collins cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
43° / 16°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
86° / 56°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
245
~67% of year
Annual precip
17″ rain
55″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Moderate
Wildfire
High
Earthquake
Low
Flood
Low

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Fort Collins listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Fort Collins area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
54%
Dry climate
Median household income
$87,600
Colorado state median
Top industries (state-level)
TechAerospaceHealthcare

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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