Cost of living in Denver, CO
The Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO metro area (3,050,512 people) ranks #20 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.
Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.
See all 149 cities
Price level, from cheaper to pricier.
- The Villages, FL 85.4
- McAllen, TX 85.9
- Springfield, MO 88.6
- Wichita, KS 88.9
- Jackson, MS 89.0
- Tulsa, OK 89.2
- Columbus, GA 89.3
- Little Rock, AR 89.4
- El Paso, TX 89.9
- Oklahoma City, OK 90.4
- Sioux Falls, SD 90.6
- Baton Rouge, LA 90.8
- Clarksville, TN 90.9
- Fargo, ND 90.9
- Killeen, TX 91.1
- Spartanburg, SC 91.1
- Fayetteville, AR 91.4
- Chattanooga, TN 91.5
- Toledo, OH 91.5
- Birmingham, AL 91.6
- Des Moines, IA 91.7
- Augusta, GA 91.9
- Omaha, NE 91.9
- Fayetteville, NC 92.0
- Winston-Salem, NC 92.0
- Jacksonville, NC 92.1
- Memphis, TN 92.2
- Kansas City, MO 92.5
- Fort Wayne, IN 92.6
- Knoxville, TN 92.6
- New Orleans, LA 92.6
- Dayton, OH 92.7
- Greensboro, NC 92.9
- Lexington, KY 92.9
- Huntsville, AL 93.1
- Louisville, KY 93.1
- Greenville, SC 93.3
- Akron, OH 93.4
- Billings, MT 93.5
- Myrtle Beach, SC 93.6
- Columbia, SC 93.7
- Cleveland, OH 93.9
- Daphne, AL 94.7
- Pittsburgh, PA 94.7
- San Antonio, TX 94.7
- St. Louis, MO 95.1
- Ocala, FL 95.2
- Savannah, GA 95.2
- Cincinnati, OH 95.4
- Albuquerque, NM 95.5
- Columbus, OH 95.5
- Grand Rapids, MI 95.5
- Indianapolis, IN 95.7
- Syracuse, NY 95.7
- Buffalo, NY 95.8
- Nashville, TN 96.3
- Wilmington, NC 96.4
- Asheville, NC 96.5
- Cheyenne, WY 96.5
- Gainesville, FL 96.7
- Milwaukee, WI 96.9
- Tucson, AZ 96.9
- Crestview, FL 97.0
- Rochester, NY 97.0
- Lakeland, FL 97.1
- Charlotte, NC 97.3
- Madison, WI 97.3
- Panama City, FL 97.3
- Durham, NC 97.6
- Pensacola, FL 97.7
- Richmond, VA 97.9
- Virginia Beach, VA 97.9
- Hilton Head Island, SC 98.0
- Austin, TX 98.1
- Provo, UT 98.2
- Raleigh, NC 98.2
- Prescott, AZ 98.3
- Boise, ID 98.4
- Houston, TX 98.6
- Harrisburg, PA 98.7
- Daytona Beach, FL 99.4
- Jacksonville, FL 99.5
- Albany, NY 99.6
- Allentown, PA 100.0
- Palm Bay, FL 100.0
- Atlanta, GA 100.1
- Greeley, CO 100.2
- Las Vegas, NV 100.2
- Port St. Lucie, FL 100.2
- Detroit, MI 100.3
- Ogden, UT 100.3
- Spokane, WA 100.3
- Norwich, CT 100.4
- Punta Gorda, FL 100.5
- Colorado Springs, CO 100.7
- Ann Arbor, MI 100.9
- Bakersfield, CA 100.9
- Burlington, VT 100.9
- Salt Lake City, UT 100.9
- Tampa, FL 100.9
- Charleston, SC 101.0
- Reno, NV 101.0
- Fort Collins, CO 101.1
- Orlando, FL 101.4
- Eugene, OR 101.6
- Providence, RI 101.8
- Portland, ME 101.9
- Fresno, CA 102.2
- Cape Coral, FL 102.3
- Sarasota, FL 102.4
- Worcester, MA 102.5
- Philadelphia, PA 102.6
- Hartford, CT 102.7
- Dallas, TX 103.1
- Naples, FL 103.2
- Trenton, NJ 103.2
- Phoenix, AZ 103.3
- Bend, OR 103.6
- Chicago, IL 103.6
- Olympia, WA 103.7
- Baltimore, MD 104.5
- New Haven, CT 104.6
- Minneapolis, MN 104.8
- Stockton, CA 105.1
- Boulder, CO 105.2
- Anchorage, AK 105.4
- Portland, OR 105.4
- Bremerton, WA 105.6
- Manchester, NH 105.7
- Denver, CO 105.8
- Riverside, CA 106.4
- Sacramento, CA 106.7
- Bridgeport, CT 106.9
- Santa Rosa, CA 107.8
- Boston, MA 108.3
- Vallejo, CA 108.5
- Santa Barbara, CA 108.8
- Washington, D.C. 108.9
- Salinas, CA 109.0
- Poughkeepsie, NY 109.4
- San Jose, CA 110.4
- Oxnard, CA 110.5
- Honolulu, HI 111.0
- Seattle, WA 111.1
- San Diego, CA 111.9
- New York, NY 112.6
- Los Angeles, CA 113.6
- Miami, FL 114.2
- San Francisco, CA 115.6
Compare Denver with your city
See what you'd need to earn in Denver to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from Boulder, CO, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), using its median household income as an illustrative single-earner salary. Household income can include several earners and other income; it is not a typical individual wage. Pick your own city, salary and filing status.
Equal salary in Denver: $105,700
Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities
To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $105,700 in Denver, CO to match $105,000 in Boulder, CO ($700 more), after 2026 taxes and local prices.
Single filer, W-2 salary. Both are in Colorado, so state income tax is the same; neither city levies a resident income tax.
Prices and housing cover the metro area; taxes use Colorado, its principal state. A metro can span several states; living in its other state can change the tax result.
What things cost in Denver
The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.
Taxes in Denver
In this fixed example, one single filer earning a $110,000 W-2 salary keeps $81,599 after 2026 federal tax ($15,370), Social Security and Medicare ($8,415) and Colorado income tax ($4,132), plus $484 in state payroll programs. The salary is rounded from median household income, not an observed individual wage. This example stays fixed when you change the calculator.
Denver charges employees $5.75 a month (Occupational Privilege Tax) in months they earn $500+ working in the city. It isn't included above.
Housing
| Measure | Denver area |
|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,943/mo |
| Median home value | $631,000 |
| Median property tax | $3,387/yr |
| Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down) | $3,910 |
| Median household income | $108,046 |
Climate and jobs in Denver
In the Denver area the average January low is 19°F and the average July high 90°F, and the area has about 46 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 4.0% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $62,320 a year, 22% above the U.S. median.
| Climate | 1991–2020 average |
|---|---|
| January low | 19°F |
| July high | 90°F |
| Days 90°F or hotter | 46 a year |
| Precipitation | 14 in a year |
| Snowfall | 49 in a year |
| Jobs and pay | Metro area | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate, 2025 average | 4.0% | 4.3% |
| Median wage, all jobs (May 2025) | $62,320 | $50,980 |
| Wage and salary jobs (May 2025) | 1.6 million | 155.5 million |
Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the Denver International Airport station (USW00003017), with snowfall from Denver-Stapleton (USW00023062) because the main station doesn't record it. Weather varies across a metro area, especially with elevation and distance from the coast. Jobs: unemployment from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; wages and job counts from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, which count wage and salary jobs, not the self-employed; wages are before taxes. The 2025 average covers 11 months: October 2025 data were not collected during the federal government shutdown.
Retiring in Denver
Our modeled retiree budget is about $3,220 a month here with a home owned outright, or $4,407 renting. It uses spending benchmarks for households with a reference person age 65 or older (BLS 2024), adjusted for local prices. These are household-based estimates, not observed spending by a single retiree in Denver. See where your budget goes furthest.
Where people move to and from Denver
- Denver to Greeley
- Denver to Boulder
- Denver to Colorado Springs
- Denver to Fort Collins
- Denver to Phoenix
- Denver to Los Angeles
- Denver to Dallas
- Denver to Seattle
- Boulder to Denver
- Colorado Springs to Denver
- Greeley to Denver
- Los Angeles to Denver
- Fort Collins to Denver
- Dallas to Denver
- Chicago to Denver
- Phoenix to Denver
IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.
Natural hazard risk
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores for the Denver area is 90.6 of 100 (very high county-score mean), with modeled expected losses of about $317 per resident per year. A mean of county percentiles is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. It describes the counties in the metro; your property's risk can differ. Disaster risk by county in Colorado.
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
Frequently asked questions
What salary do you need to live in Denver?
In a fixed single-filer W-2 example living inside the principal city, about $84,900 in Denver matches the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax. The example uses 2026 federal taxes, Colorado state taxes and modeled resident local taxes where applicable. It stays fixed when calculator inputs change. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $77,720, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $167,580.
Is Denver expensive?
The Denver metro area's price level is 105.8 (U.S. = 100), #20 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing rents price index is 146.9, 47% above the U.S. average.
Are people moving to Denver?
Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, Denver had a net gain of about 7,566 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).
What is the weather like in Denver?
In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the Denver area (Denver International Airport weather station), the average January low is 19°F and the average July high 90°F. The area has about 46 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 14 inches of precipitation a year and about 49 inches of snow.
What are jobs and pay like in Denver?
The Denver metro area's unemployment rate averaged 4.0% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $62,320 a year in May 2025, 22% above the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
What natural disasters affect Denver?
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores is 90.6 out of 100 (very high county-score mean). This is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. The highest county-score means by hazard are hail, lightning, tornado.
Compare Denver with other cities
Moving from Denver to…
Cities with similar prices
- Manchester, NH 105.7
- Bremerton, WA 105.6
- Portland, OR 105.4
- Anchorage, AK 105.4
- Boulder, CO 105.2
- Riverside, CA 106.4
- Moving from Colorado
State-agency links identify the responsible tax office; they do not verify every modeled rule. Use forms and guidance for the year you are filing.