ZIP Code 81321

Cortez is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 8,766 at the 2020 United States Census. The town was named for Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. It is a popular stop for tourists, who stay there because of its central location among surrounding attractions, such as Mesa Verde National Park, Monument Valley, and the Four Corners. A Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft made an emergency nighttime forced landing August 3, 1959, at the Cortez Municipal Airport. The airport was the only one in the area with a lighted runway which was illuminated overnight. At the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a total area of 4,015 acres (16.249 km²) including 28 acres (0.113km²) of water. It has a dry-summer continental climate (Köppen Dsb), though it borders on a semi-arid climate (BSk) due to low precipitation. In 2010, there were 8,482 people, 3,590 households, and 2,234 families residing in the city. In the city, the population was spread out, with 267% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, and 24.6% from 25 to 44, from 44 to 45, from 45 to 64, from 24 to 44.6%. The city has hot summer days and cold winter nights, the latter a result of its elevation.

History

In 1886, the town was built to provide housing for the men working on the tunnels and irrigation ditches required to divert water out of the Dolores River and into Montezuma Valley. The town was named for Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. It is a popular stop for tourists, who stay there because of its central location among surrounding attractions, such as Mesa Verde National Park, Monument Valley, and the Four Corners. A Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft made an emergency nighttime forced landing August 3, 1959, at the Cortez Municipal Airport. The airport was the only one in the area with a lighted runway which was illuminated overnight. There are many prehistoric sites, listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties or both the state register and the National register of Historic Places. The Cortez area is home to the Old Spanish National Historic Trail and the San Juan Skyway National Scenic Byway. It also contains the Trail of the Ancients, which is a national scenic byway through the mountains of Colorado. The area is also home to several historic trails or byways, including the Grand Canyon and the Little Colorado River Trail, which runs through the northern part of the town of Cortez. There is also a National Park Service trail through the area, which goes through the town to Monument Valley and the southern part to the Fourcorners. It runs from the north to the south, and from the west to the east to the north and south to the west.

Geography

Cortez is located at 37°2057N 108°3445W (37.349270, -108.579225) It has a dry-summer continental climate (Köppen Dsb), though it borders on a semi-arid climate (BSk) due to low precipitation. The city has hot summer days and cold winter nights, the latter a result of its elevation. At the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total area of 4,015 acres (16.249 km²), including 28 acres (0.113 km²) of water. It is located in the area of the southwest known as the "High Desert", as are most of northwestern, western, southwestern, and southern Colorado. It also borders on the state of New Mexico, where it is located on the border of the U.S. states of Wyoming and Nebraska. It was named after the town of Cortez, Colorado, which was founded in 1858. It has an elevation of 37.5 meters (108.3 feet) and is located near the Colorado/New Mexico border. It had a population of 3,788 at the 2010 United States census, and has an area of 16.249 square miles (4,015 km²). It is one of the largest cities in the state, with a population exceeding 4,000 at the same time. It lies in the heart of the High Desert, which is also known as "The High Desert".

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 8,482 people, 3,590 households, and 2,234 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 79.2% White, 0.4% African American, 11.8% Native American, 0.,8% Asian, 0,00% Pacific Islander, 6.04% from other races and 2.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.30% of the population. The city's median income was $28,776, and the median income for a family was $35,533. The per capita income for the city is $18,040. About 14.8%. of families and 18.6%. of the town's population were below the poverty line, including 27.3% of those under age 18 and 17.3%. of those age 65 or over. For every 100 females, there are 91.4 males. For every100 females age 18 or over, there there are 84.4 Males. The city has a population of 4,399, with 48.1% male and 51.9% female. The average household size is 2.33, with 30.0% of people under the age of 18 living with them. The median age is 36.5 years, with 26.7% under the Age of 18, 8.8%, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 21. 6% from 45 to 64, and 16.4%. of people aged 65 and older.

Economy

Cortez is a local commercial center, competing with Durango in the east, and Farmington, New Mexico in the south. It draws trade from southeastern Utah, the extreme northeastern corner of Arizona, the Shiprock area of Northwestern New Mexico, and San Miguel, Dolores, Montezuma, and parts of La Plata County in Colorado. Its economy is based very heavily on tourism, both to nearby Mesa Verde National Park as well as to San Juan National Forest, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in the area. It is home to the headquarters of Osprey Packs, who employ over 100 people in Cortez. The town has a population of around 2,000. The city is located in the eastern part of the U.S. state of New Mexico. The state of Colorado is in the western part of its state, in the north of the state is the state of Apache-Guerrero, and in the southern part of San Miguel County is in San Diego County. Cortez is located on the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and Navajo Indian Reservations, which are home to a number of Native American tribes. It also has a large amount of BLM lands, including Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and the Navajo Indian reservation. It has a small population of Navajo Indians, who live in the nearby Ute Mountains. The area is also home to several Navajo reservations, including the Navajo Nation, which is also known as the "Navajo Nation".

Education

The district has one preschool, five elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. The educational system is currently suffering a loss of 1.6% according to the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program. Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 Pre-School, Kemper Elementary School, Lewis-Arriola Elementary School and Pleasant View Elementary School are located in Cortez. The high school mascot is the Panther. The district is part of the Montezum-C Cortez School District RE- 1. The school district is located in the town of Cortez, Colorado, about 50 miles from Denver. The town has a population of about 2,000 people. It is located on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, about 40 miles from the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The city's population is about 1,200 people, about half of whom live in the Cortez section of the town. It has one of the highest percentages of low-income residents in the state, at 1.7%. The district has a high percentage of students with disabilities, at 0.8%. It also has a low percentage of high school students with no high school diploma or GED, at 2.4%. The school system has a small number of high schools, at 3.2 percent. It was founded in the 1950s and has been in the same district since the 1960s. It currently has five schools, including one middle and two elementary schools. The elementary schools are located at Cortez High School.

Government

The City Council of Cortez is composed of seven members including the Mayor and Mayor Pro-tem. The current mayor is Michael J. Lavey. The City Council is responsible for the development of the city. The city is located in the eastern part of the Mexican state of Baja California. It has a population of around 2,000 people. It is the second largest city in the state, after Baja, and the third largest in the United States. It was founded in 1855 and is located on the banks of the Manzanares River, near the border with Mexico. It had its first city hall in 1854 and was established in 1856. It became a city in 1858 and was named after the town of Manzanare, in the north of the state. It also has its own mayor and mayor pro-tem, who are both elected for a four-year term. The mayor is the head of the City Council and serves as the city's chief executive. The council also has a board of directors, which is made up of the mayor and the mayor-pro-tem of each of the seven cities in Cortez, as well as the mayor of the town's police chief and a city council member. The Mayor is the highest-ranking official in the city, and is the only member of the council who is not a resident of the Cortez City Council. The Council has a budget of $1,000,000 for the year, and can spend up to $2,000 a year on expenditures.

Transportation

Cortez Municipal Airport serves Cortez. Cortez is part of Colorado's Bustang network. It is on the Durango-Grand Junction Outrider line. The airport is located near the town of Cortez, Colorado. It has a single runway, which is used for airport operations. It was built in the early 1900s by the city's Spanish-speaking residents. It opened in 1929 and was named after the town's first mayor, who was killed in a car crash in the 1930s. It closed in the 1950s and was replaced by a new airport. It reopened in the 1970s and is now part of the Bustang system. It also serves as a base for the Colorado Air National Guard. It's on the Colorado-Durango-Outrider line, which runs from Durango to Grand Junction, Colorado, and from Grand Junction to El Paso, Texas, and back again in the 1980s and 1990s.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Cortez, Montezuma County, Colorado = 99. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 54. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 92. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Cortez = 6.2 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 8,766 individuals with a median age of 37.1 age the population grows by 7.60% in Cortez, Montezuma County, Colorado population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,407 residents per square mile of area (543/km²). There are average 2.3 people per household in the 3,611 households with an average household income of $34,345 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 6.40% of the available work force and has dropped -2.01% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 29.58%. The number of physicians in Cortez per 100,000 population = 156.9.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Cortez = 13 inches and the annual snowfall = 33.6 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 71. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 240. 89 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 13.1 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 80, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Cortez, Montezuma County, Colorado which are owned by the occupant = 60.53%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 33 years with median home cost = $157,110 and home appreciation of -0.13%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $5.86 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,295 per student. There are 14.8 students for each teacher in the school, 613 students for each Librarian and 357 students for each Counselor. 5.53% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 11.84% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 7.05% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).