The City of Monte Vista is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Rio Grande County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 4,247 at the 2020 Census.
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History
Monte Vista was laid out in 1884. The site had previously served as a watering stop for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. Monte Vista is the Spanish translation of "mountain view."
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.0 square miles (5.2 km2), of which, 1.9 square miles (4.9 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (2.56%) is water.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Monte Vista had a population of 4,247. The median age was 39.1 years. 25.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 87.0 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 1,770 households in Monte Vista, of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 39.2% were married-couple households, 19.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 35.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 1,953 housing units, of which 9.4% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.6%.
Culture
Monte Vista is served by the Carnegie Public Library.
Every March, nearly 20,000 Sandhill Cranes descend on the San Luis Valley before continuing their northward spring migration.
Climate
Monte Vista has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk).