Area Information
INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY
Pueblo County is one of 64 counties in the State of Colorado. The county was named after the historic town of Pueblo, which is also the county seat. Located at the confluence of the Arkansas River and Fountain Creek, Pueblo has been an important transportation crossroads and trading center for over 150 years. In recent years, Pueblo has undergone a gradual transformation from a manufacturing- to a service-oriented economy.
Modern Pueblo continues to be a major transportation center, which is served by two U.S. Highways, two railroads, numerous truck lines and a commercial airport. The Pueblo trade area consists of over a dozen counties in Southern Colorado. Many residents of this region come to Pueblo in order to shop or to participate in the numerous cultural and recreation activities that are available.
"Puebloans" are particularly proud of their community's extensive system of parks, symphony orchestra, and arts and conference centers. The Colorado State Fair is held here each year in August. Beautiful mountain scenery is within an hour's drive, and Lake Pueblo, located just 5 miles west of the city, offers excellent facilities for boating, camping, fishing, and other water sports.
With its low cost of living, excellent environmental qualities, and outstanding educational facilities, Pueblo offers an attractive lifestyle to its residents and a vast host of opportunities and amenities to new and expanding businesses. Embarking on an encounter with the future, the city of Pueblo stands ready to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. Pueblo, with a comfortably small population of 102,121, is also known as "America's Home of Heroes".
AMERICA'S HOME OF HEROES
Pueblo is the hometown of four Medal of Honor recipients - Drew D. Dix, Raymond G. Murphy, William J. Crawford, and Carl L. Sitter. The Medal of Honor is the highest military award that can be bestowed upon a member of the United States Armed Forces. In 1993, the City Council adopted the tagline "Home of Heroes" because it can claim more recipients per capita than any other city in the United States. On July 1, 1993, the Congressional Record recognized Pueblo as the "Home of Heroes". In September 2000, Pueblo hosted the National Medal of Honor Convention. Since then, local school students lobbied the Colorado State Legislature and proposed the creation of specialized Medal of Honor license plates, which have since been issued to all Medal of Honor recipients in the state of Colorado.
CLIMATE
The climate in Pueblo County is semi-arid, and is generally warmer than its neighboring counties to the north, making the winters comfortable and mild. Pueblo's temperate climate, with an annual average temperature of 68 degrees, makes it a very attractive community in which to settle for businesses and families alike. Southeast Colorado is also known for its 300 days of sunshine! Click here for a chart of average monthly high and low temperatures.
DEMOGRAPHICS
A summary of estimated 2006 data for Pueblo County is provided below. Click here for the fully detailed "Quick Facts" page available on www.census.gov.
Population
Races
Education
COST OF LIVING
According to the American Chamber of Commerce Research Association (ACCRA), Pueblo's cost of living is an outstanding plus for the community. Pueblo enjoys one of the lowest costs of living - and an even lower cost of housing - when compared to over 274 urban areas of all sizes throughout the country. For example, using the Cost of Living Calculator at www.bestplaces.net, Pueblo's Cost of Living Index compares very favorably versus the national average and many U.S. urban areas:
Cost of Construction
Pueblo's building costs have always been among the lowest in America, largely because the weather allows for year-round construction. Pueblo has one of the lowest "cost of construction" indexes in America - approximately 9% lower than the national average and comparable to, or lower than, most other cities in the Sun Belt.
State Individual Tax
The state income tax is 4.63% of Colorado Taxable Income. There is no city or county individual tax. Colorado has a pension exclusion of $20,000 per individual for persons whose ages are between 55 and 64. This exclusion is raised to $24,000 for persons 65 years of age or older.
Vehicle License Tax
This tax is based upon a percentage of the list price and vehicle weight.
Real Property Tax
Colorado's real property taxes are assessed by the political subdivision in which the property is located. The assessed valuation in Pueblo County, for tax purposes, was 29% of the total value of commercial property and 9.35% of residential property in 2000.
LOCATION AND LANDSCAPE
Pueblo, located in southeast Colorado along the Great Plains, borders the Rocky Mountains. The Arkansas River is positioned directly to the northeast of the city. The town of Pueblo has a long and colorful history dating back to 1842, having been first called Fort Pueblo, and acting as a transportation junction in the early west. Prior to that, it was a meeting and trading point for the Ute and Comanche Indians, signaling the coming together of the mountains and the plains.
The biggest destinations in the region include Pueblo State Reservoir and the nearby Royal Gorge. Pueblo State Reservoir encompasses over 60 miles of shoreline, and 9,600 total acres of park area with 400 campsites. Enjoyed year-round by many Colorado natives, Lake Pueblo's southern Colorado scenery is striking and includes within its borders a 5-story waterslide on the site's Rock Canyon Swim Beach. The area also offers many hiking and biking trails that wind throughout the park's brilliant landscape. The Royal Gorge area, situated two hours south of Denver, has developed into much more than just the breathtaking 1,260-foot suspension bridge. Now a 360-acre theme park, Royal Gorge National Park includes aerial-tram car rides, a petting-zoo at an elevation of 6,800 feet, a mountain man encampment, the Silver Rock Railroad, and the Royal Rush Skycoaster.
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ACTIVITIES AND ATTRACTIONS
Golf Courses
State Wildlife Areas
Colorado is home to the largest elk population in the world and is famous for its extraordinary elk, deer, and antelope hunting.
Colorado State Fair
The Colorado State Fair, which usually begins the end of August and concludes the beginning of September, has been a very popular attraction to Pueblo County. The Fair consists of an ongoing carnival, rodeos, a horse show, barnyard tours, commercial exhibits, food concessions, and rides and games for all ages. The fair also hosts a mini-concert series with top artists such as The Doobie Brothers and Josh Turner.
Water Sports and Nature
Lake Pueblo, just west of the city, is Colorado's most popular state park. The water sports area, complete with Rock Canyon Swim Area, is an 11-mile-long haven for fishing, boating, sailing, and water skiing enthusiasts. Recreationists enjoy the 400 campsites and two marinas that service boaters with docking privileges, concessions, and equipment storage. The Division of Wildlife operates an on-site fish hatchery that makes for a wonderful tour.
Parks and Recreation
Pueblo parks offer tennis, swimming, fishing, softball - even a Frisbee golf course. Acres of shade with picnic tables in abundance make them favorite weekend family spots. Highlighting a variety of "kiddie" rides at Pueblo City Park is a vintage, hand-carved carousel dating back to 1911. City Park is also home to the Pueblo Zoo, a bio-park.
Pueblo Mountain Park borders on the San Isabel National Forest in nearby Beulah, where 57 neighborhood parks add to the system's 700 acres of open space.
Museums
BLM LAND
BLM Lands are often thought of as being America's Playground and public lands in Colorado are no exception. In Colorado, people rely on the public land for many uses such as recreation, cultural or historical tourism, and traditional uses like livestock grazing and mining.
The BLM manages 8.4 million acres of public lands in Colorado - ranging from 4,000 to over 14,000 feet in elevation - along with 29 million acres of subsurface mineral estate. BLM public lands include alpine tundra, colorful canyons, and majestic mesas. The agency manages these lands for a multitude of uses including recreation, mining, wildlife habitat, wilderness, energy development, and livestock grazing.
BLM Colorado adheres to the principal of multiple-use management outlined by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. This means that the BLM balances outdoor recreation and preservation of wildlife habitat, air and water, and other scenic and historical values, with environmentally responsible commercial development of the land and its resources. The mix of allowed uses depends on an area's resources, the type of permit and local demands.
Recreational activities include:
ACCESS TO SERVICES
Healthcare
Practicing physicians in Pueblo represent virtually every medical specialty. In 2003, more than 350 medical and psychiatric doctors had offices within the county. A very favorable ratio of 1 physician per 475 residents shows the excellent personal healthcare available in Pueblo.
Due in part to the wide representation of medical doctors in the community, Pueblo has established itself as the medical hub of Southern Colorado. The city's two fully-accredited hospitals serve the acute care and emergency care needs of the Southern Colorado residents.
Pueblo also offers the many supportive healthcare services demanded by an urban population. Public health units, nursing homes, optometry practices, physical therapy centers, chiropractic offices, and the services of more than 80 dentists, all help to keep Puebloans in good health.
Transportation
The city of Pueblo lies at the crossroads of two major highways, Interstate 25 and U.S. Highway 50, which makes it very accessible from the freeway.
Shopping
The city of Pueblo has several multi-purpose malls that offer department stores, specialty stores, and restaurants. Pueblo Mall, Midtown Shopping Center, and the Mesa Shopping Center all are nearby and provide a full range of goods and services. There are also a number of local shops in Pueblo that provide handcrafted, one-of-a kind goods, along with personal service that is rare and welcoming.
EMPLOYMENT
Today, Pueblo's employment picture is bright and diverse. The number of people with jobs has grown substantially, causing a steady decline in the unemployment rate. Currently, the total civilian labor force in Pueblo County exceeds 60,000, including workers from six neighboring counties who commute to jobs in Pueblo. That is a record level.
It's a stable and productive labor force that combines a strong work ethic with low absenteeism and low turnover rates. These are characteristics deeply rooted in the traditions of Pueblo's history as Colorado's manufacturing center. Today, they make labor considerations one of Pueblo's most outstanding advantages. Employees will find an excellent combination of skills and training, as well as diligence, dependability, and productivity.
The local labor market offers a substantial and diverse pool of occupational skills. It varies from electronics and data processing to the more timeless trades and crafts. If specific skills are not readily available to meet particular needs, new or expanding businesses in the Pueblo area have an excellent opportunity.