How many people live in Durango?
Roughly 19,756, going by the newest number there is. It comes from the Colorado State Demography Office, the state's official source for estimates at the town level, which updates its figures every year from births, deaths, housing permits and other records. The last true head-count was the 2020 Census. It found 19,071 residents inside the city limits (U.S. Census Bureau).
A third figure floats around the web: 19,411. Treat it with care. That one is a survey estimate, because the American Community Survey samples a slice of households and averages five years of their answers, so it can drift from a real count in either direction. Cite the 2020 number for anything official. Use the state's for "right now."
| Source | Year | Durango |
|---|---|---|
| Census head-count | 2020 | 19,071 |
| State estimate | 2020 | 19,062 |
| State estimate | 2021 | 19,106 |
| State estimate | 2022 | 19,482 |
| State estimate | 2023 | 19,465 |
| State estimate | 2024 | 19,756 |
Compare the first two rows. The state's 2020 estimate misses the real count by nine people. Nine! For a model built from paperwork rather than door-knocking, that is a good sign for the years that follow.
How fast is Durango growing?
Slowly, and in fits. In 2010 the town counted 16,887 people (Census API). By 2020 it had added 2,184 more, a jump of about 13 percent, while La Plata County as a whole crept from 51,334 to 55,638 over the same ten years, closer to 8 percent.
Since then the pace has cooled. State figures show about 700 new residents between 2020 and 2024, or 3.6 percent. One year even went backward. 2023 slipped by 17 people, which tells you how little it takes to move a line on a chart in a town this size.
How does Durango compare with the towns around it?
It is the only incorporated place in the county above 3,000. For 2024 the state puts Bayfield at 2,918 and Ignacio at 843. Everyone else lives outside any town: the ranch families, the subdivision crowd, the folks at the end of a long gravel canyon road. That group totals 33,324 people, about 59 percent of the county (state municipal lookup).
Zoom out. The 2020 count for Cortez was 8,766, Pagosa Springs had 1,571 and Silverton 622, while Farmington, New Mexico, the nearest bigger city, reached 46,624. We lay that comparison out in our closest big city answer.
Why does the ZIP code number look so much bigger?
Because a mailing address is not a city limit. ZIP 81301 alone held 30,760 people in 2020, according to ZIP-Codes.com's rollup of Census data, and plenty of them have a Durango address while living well outside town. Our ZIP code answer shows how the three Durango ZIPs divide the map.
So when a site says "39,000 people in Durango," check what it counted. The city has about 19,000. All three ZIP codes together held 38,787 in 2020, roughly double.
How many homes does Durango have?
The 2020 count found 9,150 housing units inside city limits. Of those, 8,158 were occupied and 992 sat empty on April 1, 2020 (same Census file). That is an empty share near 11 percent.
Empty doesn't mean abandoned. In a resort region the figure includes second homes, seasonal rentals and units sitting between tenants, which goes a long way toward explaining a town of 19,000 that feels packed in July and hollow in April. Housing also drives the price story in our cost of living guide.
Who lives in Durango?
The 2020-2024 American Community Survey puts the median age at 38.3, against 43.2 for the county (ACS tables). Fifty-three percent of households own their home. About 60 percent of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Income is a separate story, and our median income answer covers it.