Counties / Colorado / Chaffee County

Chaffee County, CO

FIPS 08015 · population 20,178 · outside every metro area

$697k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$697k
▲ 0.7% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$2,430
▼ 0.4% year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
4.2%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,466
market rent is 1.66x the standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+63.3%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+0.7%FHFA HPI2025+4.5%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$666k
Surveyed gross rent$1,611
Rent burden 30%+59.8%
Median year built1993
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
14.1%vacant
11,482estimated housing units
Occupied tenure25.9% renter
owner 74.1%renter 25.9%
Structure mix85.5% single-family
Single-family 85.5%20+ units 1.1%Mobile home 5.4%Other 8.0%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs9,341▲ 1.2% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments1,258annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,048▲ 3.4% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorLeisure and hospitality32.4% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+1.2%WEEKLY WAGE+3.4%Leisure and hospitality32.4%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Chaffee County presents a valuation-versus-income tension: Zillow’s 2026-06 median home value is $696,803, while measured median asking rent is $2,430 per month and the supplied gross yield is 4.18% before costs. Buyers whose return depends on current rent should investigate unit mix and achievable lease-up; buyers needing a wide expense cushion should be cautious. These are county medians, not a property valuation or operating statement.

02Housing economics

Within Zillow’s county series, value rose 0.73% year over year, whereas FHFA’s separately labeled 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 4.49%. FHFA is an appreciation index, not a dollar home value; its method and vintage cannot be averaged with Zillow’s measure. HUD’s $1,466 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not asking rent or a yield input. The 0.29% effective property-tax rate reduces the room left by the stated pre-cost yield; insurance and other operating costs are not published.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS evidence shows 335 active listings, 64 median days on market, and 19.63% with price reductions. These are visible asking-market supply, marketing-time and seller-concession measures, not closed sales or proof of buyer demand. Net migration of 231 tax-return households coincides with incoming movers’ average AGI exceeding outgoing movers’ by $28,741; that describes mover composition, not tenant demand. In 2025, QCEW reports a $1,048 average weekly wage for covered workplace jobs, with leisure and hospitality the largest disclosed private supersector. The county’s 6.67% investor share of purchase mortgages should be read against 330 total purchases, not as whole-market buyer control.

04Risk & next checks

The 0.27% modeled annual climate loss ratio aligns with inland flood as the dominant hazard, but it is not an observed loss or a property flood determination. Obtain parcel flood exposure, insurance quotes, condition, parcel tax bills and operating expenses, lease and vacancy evidence, and closed-sale comparables. Without those, the record cannot establish property-level net yield, financing coverage, replacement exposure, or an acquisition basis; county evidence also cannot show whether listing concessions translate into completed transactions.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Chaffee County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Salida city5.9KBuena Vista town3KPoncha Springs town959Maysville CDP235Smeltertown CDP188Nathrop CDP187Johnson Village CDP129Garfield CDP93
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

8 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Salida cityIncorporated place
    5,861
  2. 02
    Buena Vista townIncorporated place
    3,010
  3. 03
    Poncha Springs townIncorporated place
    959
  4. 04
    Maysville CDPCensus-designated place
    235
  5. 05
    Smeltertown CDPCensus-designated place
    188
  6. 06
    Nathrop CDPCensus-designated place
    187
  7. 07
    Johnson Village CDPCensus-designated place
    129
  8. 08
    Garfield CDPCensus-designated place
    93

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.269% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.29%

$1,901 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+231

1,049 in · 818 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$28,741

$95,091 arriving · $66,350 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors6.7%

22 of 330 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings335▲ 15.9% year over year
Median days on market64▲ 5.8% year over year
Listings price-reduced19.6%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 3.2% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Subject-property rents may diverge from the county median asking rent, making the stated gross yield inapplicable.
  2. Flood exposure and unreported insurance or operating costs may overwhelm pre-cost income.
  3. MLS concessions may not translate to closed-sale pricing, and migration may not become tenant demand.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is gross yield computable from measured market rent?

Yes. The record publishes median asking market rent and a stated gross yield before costs; HUD FMR is a separate payment standard.

What does the Realtor.com evidence establish?

It establishes MLS asking-market inventory, marketing time and price-reduction evidence, not closed-sale values or confirmed buyer demand.

What does the QCEW labor measure represent?

It represents annual covered employment at county workplaces and covered-worker wages, not resident employment, unemployment or a forecast.