367,368 people live in Fort Collins, CO, which places it 153rd of the 387 metropolitan areas. This page lays out the income and housing picture and a trade-by-trade look at the competition.
Officially the Fort Collins-Loveland, CO metropolitan statistical area, it takes in Fort Collins and Loveland.
Money first: median household income in the Fort Collins metro is $93,765, 16 percent above the national figure. Home values tell their own story; here the median is $569,100, 71 percent above the national figure. Together they say a good deal about the ticket sizes a local business can expect.
A younger-than-average population: median age 36.8, 2.1 years below the national median. 64% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, 1 points below the US share. The civilian labor force numbers 205,963 people with unemployment at 4.8%, about the same as the US share. Among adults 25 and over, 53% have at least a bachelor's degree, 17 points above the US share.
Fort Collins, CO versus Colorado: income about the same as the Colorado figure, home values 6 percent higher than the Colorado figure, business density 3 percent denser than the Colorado figure.
Start with the count: 11,764 establishments with payroll. That works out to 32 businesses per 1,000 residents, 28 percent above the national figure (the national rate is 25 per 1,000). Of those, 730 are home-services contractors (plumbing and HVAC, electrical, roofing, concrete, specialty trades and landscaping), a 6.2% share of the business base, 1 points above the US share.
| Business type | Establishments | Per 100k residents | Share ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roofing contractors | 80 | 21.8 | 2.23× |
| Landscaping services | 210 | 57.2 | 1.27× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 75 | 20.4 | 1.25× |
| Electrical contractors | 143 | 38.9 | 1.22× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 185 | 50.4 | 1.18× |
| Personal care services (all) | 265 | 72.1 | 1.17× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 37 | 10.1 | 1.13× |
| Beauty salons | 132 | 35.9 | 1.11× |
| Dentists | 209 | 56.9 | 1.09× |
| Self-storage facilities | 28 | 7.6 | 1.07× |
| General automotive repair | 123 | 33.5 | 1.03× |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 749 | 203.9 | 0.86× |
| Automobile dealers | 51 | 13.9 | 0.77× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 142 | 38.7 | 0.74× |
| Physicians' offices | 214 | 58.3 | 0.70× |
| Legal services | 178 | 48.5 | 0.70× |
| Child day care services | 70 | 19.1 | 0.61× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 7 | 1.9 | 0.54× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 51 | 13.9 | 0.36× |
| General freight trucking | 46 | 12.5 | 0.28× |
The last column divides the local share of establishments by the national share (1.00 = the same mix as the US).
Crowded categories in Fort Collins, CO: roofing contractors, landscaping services, specialty trade contractors and electrical contractors. Roofing contractors show it most, with 80 establishments, 2.2 times the share nationwide. Less common here than nationally: general freight trucking, grocery stores, road and paving contractors and child day care services. With 46 locations, general freight trucking sit at about 28% of the national share. Concrete contractors, general automotive repair and dentists sit near their national proportions.
By raw count the largest categories here are restaurants (749), personal care services (265) and physicians' offices (214). Per 100,000 residents: restaurants 203.9, followed by personal care services and physicians' offices. By sector, the home-services trades are the most over-represented at 1.3 times the US share; trucking, storage, real estate and road construction are the least, at about 56% of.
For roofing contractors, landscaping services and specialty trade contractors, expect the Google Ads auction to be contested: more advertisers per search means higher cost per click and a real premium on ad relevance, landing-page quality and call tracking that proves which keywords produce jobs. For general freight trucking, grocery stores and road and paving contractors, the opportunity is coverage. Few competitors means the business that shows up for every nearby town and every variant of the search collects most of it. With a median age 2.1 years below the national median, expect more discovery through maps, short video and AI answers; search alone covers less of the market. With income 16 percent above the national figure, the message can lead on quality, warranty and speed rather than the lowest price.
Services for a business advertising in Fort Collins, CO, picked from the full list.
Campaigns on Google fenced to the service area and judged on booked work.
Profile upkeep, posts, Q&A and photos on the listing customers see first.
Site structure, pages and citations that earn organic placement in Fort Collins, CO.
A clean, fast site with one job: make the call happen.
Being the answer when people ask an AI assistant who to call in Fort Collins, CO.
Replies to reviews, written and posted for the business.
Fort Collins, CO has 367,368 residents (US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimate), ranking 153rd of 387 metropolitan areas.
The median household income in Fort Collins, CO is $93,765 (ACS 2024 5-year), above the US median of $80,734.
The Census Bureau counts 11,764 employer establishments in Fort Collins, CO (County Business Patterns 2023), or 32 businesses per 1,000 residents.
The median home value in Fort Collins, CO is $569,100, and 64% of homes are owner-occupied (ACS 2024 5-year).
Measured against the US business mix (County Business Patterns 2023), roofing contractors, landscaping services and specialty trade contractors have more establishments per resident than the US average; general freight trucking, grocery stores and road and paving contractors have fewer in Fort Collins, CO.
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Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023. Updated 2026-09-29.