Durango, CO

Durango's median household income was $79,545 in the 2019-2023 ACS, and La Plata County's was $85,296 (Census QuickFacts^[1], Census QuickFacts^[2]). La Plata County's median household income also appears on the county QuickFacts page at $85,296, and per-capita income was $45,717 (Census QuickFacts^[3]). Durango's own housing affordability is on the expensive side for a retirement market, with the city's ACS/market profile pointing to roughly a $609,700 median home value and the county housing white paper citing a $775,000 median single-family home value in 2025 (Population Review^[4], Durango city housing white paper^[5]).

Mercy Hospital at 1010 Three Springs Blvd is the area's main hospital, and Medicare lists it as an acute care hospital that provides emergency services (Medicare Care Compare^[6], Mercy Hospital^[7]). CommonSpirit says it is an 82-bed, Level III trauma center, with specialty areas including orthopedics, spine surgery, cardiology, emergency care, trauma care, and cancer care (Mercy Hospital^[7]). For more complex procedures, residents commonly look to larger regional systems on the Front Range or in larger Western Slope cities, so Durango is good for routine and moderate-acuity care but not a major referral hub (Mercy Hospital^[7]).

NOAA normals for the Durango station show annual precipitation of roughly 19 inches, with monthly averages ranging from about 0.5 inches in June to about 2.2 inches in January, and winter temperatures are cold enough that outdoor comfort is highly seasonal (NOAA NCEI normals^[8]). The city describes winters as mild and sunny, with temperatures ranging between 10 and 50 degrees, and autumn averaging about 65 degrees (City of Durango Weather^[9]). For retirees, the most comfortable full-living season is typically late spring through early fall, while winter brings snow and colder mornings that favor those who like skiing and winter sports (NOAA NCEI normals^[8]).

Durango is in La Plata County, but city or county FBI violent and property-crime rates and a 3-year trend are not given here (Census QuickFacts^[1]). Because the FBI UCR/NIBRS system is voluntary and incomplete after 2021, the right next step would be a verified county or agency-level FBI page if Durango police or La Plata County reporting can be confirmed; absent that, a substitute estimate from a crime-score site would be inappropriate. Durango’s crime topic is unresolved here.

Durango’s median listing price is about $899,450, and the local market shows a recent year-over-year decline of 6.32% in listing price with 79 median days on market, suggesting a somewhat cooler pace than earlier in the year (Realtor.com Durango market^[10]). La Plata County, which is the broader geography used in some market reports for Durango, shows a median listing price of $877,000 and average days on market of 110, while Redfin reports a countywide median sale price of $807K and 55 days on market over the three months ending August 2026 (Realtor.com La Plata County^[11], Redfin La Plata County^[12]). For 55+ housing, Durango does have age-restricted options such as Miremonte in the Three Springs neighborhood, which offers housing for adults 55 and better (VOA Colorado Miremonte^[13]); however, the sources reviewed do not establish a large active-adult subdivision market in the way some retirement metros do.

Durango-La Plata County Airport, DRO, is the primary regional airport and is about 15 miles southeast of historic downtown Durango (City tourism airport page^[14]). The airport offers daily nonstop service to Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Phoenix, with seasonal nonstop service to Houston, which gives retirees workable connections to Midwest and East Coast travel through those hubs (City of Durango Airport page^[15], Durango tourism airports^[14]). For longer itineraries, the airport is convenient but not a large hub, so schedules and fare competition are more limited than in a major metro airport (City of Durango Airport page^[15]).

A complete, authoritative count of public golf courses within 30 minutes of Durango is not given here, and course-specific greens fees should be checked directly with each club. Durango is, however, notably strong for hiking, mountain biking, river access, and winter sports, and the city and tourism sources emphasize that it is a year-round outdoor destination with nearby skiing and broad regional recreation access (City of Durango Weather^[9], Durango tourism airports and destination pages^[14]). For a retiree who wants golf plus outdoors, Durango's appeal is the lifestyle mix more than an abundance of big-club golf inventory.

The city had 19,534 estimated residents in July 2023 and 16.1% were age 65 and over in the Census QuickFacts table, which is a respectable retiree share for a mountain town (Census QuickFacts^[1]). Census Reporter places the city's median age at 38.3 and the population at about 19,411, which reinforces that Durango is small, relatively young, and college-adjacent rather than a pure retirement enclave (Census Reporter^[16]). BestNeighborhood's profile also notes that college graduates are unusually common and that the downtown center is more walkable and amenity-rich than the suburban edges (BestNeighborhood^[17]).

La Plata County is the relevant geography for FEMA’s National Risk Index, but the county’s composite score and ranked hazard values are not given here. On air quality, a local data compilation shows annual PM2.5 around 5.0 µg/m³ for La Plata County and says smoke days above the EPA's unhealthy-threshold benchmark are currently near zero, suggesting generally good annual air but low current smoke burden (La Plata County community health data^[18]). The more important retirement watchpoint is forward wildfire exposure, because mountain counties in southwest Colorado can see sharper smoke episodes and insurance stress than their clean-air annual averages suggest (La Plata County community health data^[18]).