Buena Vista vs Smeltertown

A side-by-side comparison of Buena Vista and Smeltertown: population, income, housing, and more.

Buena Vista and Smeltertown are places in Colorado. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Buena Vista has the higher population (2,966 vs 127 in Smeltertown). Smeltertown has the higher median household income ($135,580 vs $58,409 in Buena Vista). Since 2019, Buena Vista's population has grown faster (+6.6% vs -5.9%).

Population, income & housing

	Buena Vista	Smeltertown
Population	2,966	127
Median age	33.1 yrs	31.6 yrs
Median household income	$58,409	$135,580
Median home value	$495,800	—
Median gross rent	$1,519	—
Housing units	1,517	43
Homeownership rate	43.1%	20.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	41.6%	7.4%
Unemployment rate	14.6%	0.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Buena Vista	Smeltertown
Population	2,782 → 2,966 (+6.6%)	135 → 127 (-5.9%)
Median household income	$44,104 → $58,409 (+32.4%)	$77,083 → $135,580 (+75.9%)
Median home value	$238,700 → $495,800 (+107.7%)	—
Median gross rent	$627 → $1,519 (+142.3%)	—

Buena Vista

Population

2,7822,966

Median household income

$44,104$58,409

Median home value

$238,700$495,800

Median gross rent

$627$1,519

Smeltertown

Population

135127

Median household income

$77,083$135,580

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Buena Vista	Smeltertown
Under 5	2.9%	0.0%
5 to 17	22.0%	36.2%
18 to 24	11.0%	0.0%
25 to 34	15.6%	44.9%
35 to 44	9.9%	0.0%
45 to 54	15.4%	0.0%
55 to 64	16.5%	9.4%
65 to 74	4.3%	9.4%
75 and over	2.3%	0.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Buena Vista	Smeltertown
White (non-Hispanic)	91.4%	97.6%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	1.6%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	0.7%	2.4%
Hispanic or Latino	6.3%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Buena Vista	Smeltertown
No high school diploma	4.6%	3.7%
High school graduate	29.2%	7.4%
Some college or associate's	24.6%	81.5%
Bachelor's degree	27.4%	0.0%
Graduate or professional degree	14.2%	7.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Buena Vista	Smeltertown
Drove alone	72.6%	87.5%
Carpooled	11.1%	0.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	1.4%	0.0%
Bicycle	2.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	12.8%	12.5%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Buena Vista	Smeltertown
1-unit, detached	77.1%	14.0%
1-unit, attached	5.7%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	4.1%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	8.6%	0.0%
20 or more units	4.4%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	86.0%

Poverty & households

	Buena Vista	Smeltertown
Poverty rate	9.6%	0.0%
Average household size	2.16	2.95
Mean commute (minutes)	11	—
Median year structure built	1990	1986