About Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Fort Collins is located 60 miles north of Denver and just one hour from Denver International Airport. One of the most highly educated communities in the United States, the city is home to about 123,000 people including 21,000 students attending Colorado State University.

Average median income is $58,000 with a diverse employment base that includes Hewlett Packard, Agilent Technologies, Anheuser Busch, Teledyne WaterPic, and Colorado State University. The American Chamber of Commerce Research Association has calculated the Fort Collins cost of living index at 106.2.

The exceptional quality of life in Fort Collins attracts highly creative people and innovative companies from around the world. The City has a full-time symphony orchestra, more restaurants per capita than any other city in Colorado, is close to some of the best outdoor recreation areas in the United States, produces more live theater than Boulder and Colorado Springs combined, and has a downtown that Robert Gibbs ranks 9 1/2 on a scale of ten.

Connect to Fort Collins

Download a self-guided walking tour of Old Town Fort Collins
City of Fort Collins
Fort Collins Convention & Visitors Bureau
Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce

Fort Collins' Superlatives

Residents know that Fort Collins, Colorado is a special place to live, work and play. Check out what others have to say:

• #2 Best Place to Live – Money magazine (July 2008)
• #1 of 8 Enriching Towns for Art and Music Lovers, Where to Retire magazine (April 2008)
• #3 Best Place for Business and Career; Forbes magazine (March 2008)
• #39 Best Place to Live and Launch a Business; CNN/Money (March 2008)
• One of Five Top Offbeat Travel Towns for 2008 – Offbeat Travel (February 2008)
• Top 10 Digital Cities; Center for Digital Government (September 2007)
• #1 R&D Hot Spot of the 30 Fastest Cities in the World – Fast Company magazine (July 2007)
• #9 Best Place to Invest in Real Estate; Business 2.0 (May 2007)
• Top 10 College Towns for Grown-Ups; Kiplinger’s magazine (March 2007)
• Named a Preserve America Community by First Lady Laura Bush (2007)
• One of America’s Most Walkable Small Cities; msn.com (2007)
• One of the Best Places for Business and Careers; Forbes magazine (2007)
• One of Top 10 College Towns for Grown-Ups; Kiplinger ‘s magazine (March 2007)
• #7 America’s Ten Smartest Cities – Forbes magazine (January 2007)
• #1 Best Place to Live – Money magazine (August 2006)
• #6 Best Place to Raise Your Family – Frommer’s Publishing (May 2006)
• #34 Best Place to Live – Kiplinger’s magazine (June 2006)
• One of 100 Best Communities for Young People – America’s Promise (2005)
• One of 18 Perfect Towns, “Where to Live Now” – Outside magazine (2005)
• Governor’s Award for Downtown Excellence (2005)
• A Bicycle Friendly Community – League of American Bicyclists (2005)
• Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine’s 34th most fiscally sensible city in which to live (2006)
• #6 in the Top 100 “Best Places to Raise Your Family,” according to the book, Best Places to Raise Your Family: The Top 100 Affordable Communities in the U.S., published by Frommer’s travel guides (2006)
• Named one of 10 “New American Dream Towns” by Outside Magazine based on open space, smart solutions to sprawl and gridlock, can-do community spirit, an active embrace of the adventurous life, and healthy job markets (2005)
• Forbes Magazine top 20 small metro areas to start a business or career (2005)
• “Bicycle Friendly Community” national award by League of American Bicyclists (2005)
• Runner’s World Magazine 25 best running cities in America (2005)
• Listed as a nature-friendly town in Nature-Friendly Communities, by Island Press (2005)
• #4 Best Places to Live in the United States by Men’s Journal magazine (2005, 2003)
• Officially designated as a Take Pride In America Community, through a national partnership established by the U.S. Department of the Interior (2005)
• Selected as “Top Retirement Spot” by Where to Retire magazine (2005)
• Best Place to Reinvent Your Life, by AARP Magazine (2003)
• Ranked among the top 50 places to live in the United States by Forbes Magazine (2002)
• Second in the nation as a digital city, 2002 Digital Cities Survey conducted by The Center for Digital Government
• ICLEI 5-Star Award for efforts to reduce global warming and pollution (2002)
• #17 Best Place to Live and Work in America by Employment Review (2002)
• #10 America’s Ten Most Liveable Cities/Cities That Have It All by A&E Television (2000)