LivingCostFacts / state

Colorado cost of living

Colorado has an all-items price parity of 103.1 on the U.S. = 100 scale. Compare the statewide picture with county rents and metro price levels.

BEA 2024 · HUD FY2027 · ACS 2020–2024 · CPI through 2026-10

103.1
All-items price level

BEA 2024; U.S. = 100

$95,470
Median household income

ACS 2020–2024

$539,400
Median home value

Owner-occupied homes, ACS 2020–2024

$1,916
Typical 2BR benchmark

Population-weighted county FMR, FY2027

Read the local picture

Regional Price Parities (RPPs) compare prices across places in the same year. An index of 110 means prices are 10% above the U.S. level; 90 means 10% below. RPP measures relative price levels, while CPI measures price change over time.

Colorado: RPP components

BEA 2024 regional context; each category is compared with its own U.S. = 100 benchmark. These are not county price estimates or spending shares.

  1. All items103.1
  2. Goods98.7
  3. Housing rents127.4
  4. Utilities85.0
  5. Other services99.6
0127.4

Black marker: U.S. benchmark = 100 in each row.

Put the benchmark in context

Fair Market Rent (FMR) is HUD’s estimate of the 40th percentile gross rent for standard-quality rental homes occupied by recent movers. It includes rent and most tenant-paid utilities. A household’s actual rent can differ substantially by neighborhood, lease and property.

Monthly rent by bedroom

HUD FY2027 gross monthly FMR; includes most tenant-paid utilities. Dollars per month.

  1. Studio$1,497
  2. 1 bedroom$1,606
  3. 2 bedrooms$1,916
  4. 3 bedrooms$2,538
  5. 4 bedrooms$2,884
0$2,884

Income after benchmark rent is $72,483 a year: ACS median household income minus 12 months of the population-weighted 2BR FMR. This is a comparison between separate datasets and periods, before taxes and all other expenses; it is not disposable income.

The data in view

Price levels relative to the U.S.

BEA RPP, U.S. = 100 each year. This is not an inflation index.

View chart data
Period or categoryValue
2008103.3
2009102.4
2010100.6
2011103.4
2012103.1
2013103.1
2014103.1
2015103.0
2016102.7
2017102.9
2018100.3
2019102.5
2020103.8
2021102.8
2022102.3
2023101.9
2024103.1

Price levels by category

Each category has its own U.S. benchmark of 100. Components are indexes, not spending shares.

Category2024 RPP
All items103.1
Goods98.7
Housing rents127.4
Utilities85.0
Other services99.6

Monthly Fair Market Rent by bedroom

HUD 40th percentile gross rent for standard-quality units; includes tenant-paid utilities except telephone, cable and internet. These are benchmarks, not asking-rent medians.

Home sizeFY2027 monthly gross rent
Studio$1,497
1 bedroom$1,606
2 bedrooms$1,916
3 bedrooms$2,538
4 bedrooms$2,884

County cost comparison

Income: ACS 2020–2024. Rent: HUD FY2027. Rent / income = 12 × 2BR FMR ÷ median household income; it does not measure actual renter burden.

County or equivalent2BR rent / monthMedian household incomeRent / income
Adams County$2,169$94,57127.5%
Alamosa County$1,149$55,39724.9%
Arapahoe County$2,169$101,08725.7%
Archuleta County$1,542$83,06522.3%
Baca County$1,014$46,21526.3%
Bent County$1,150$50,17927.5%
Boulder County$2,033$103,99423.5%
Broomfield County$2,169$123,87421.0%
Chaffee County$1,755$84,13225.0%
Cheyenne County$1,167$70,86519.8%
Clear Creek County$2,169$94,57727.5%
Conejos County$1,014$50,97823.9%
Costilla County$1,014$36,86133.0%
Crowley County$1,405$48,82634.5%
Custer County$1,202$72,67419.8%
Delta County$1,266$57,77426.3%
Denver County$2,169$94,71827.5%
Dolores County$1,332$64,90724.6%
Douglas County$2,169$149,59417.4%
Eagle County$2,607$104,09630.1%
El Paso County$1,621$90,36321.5%
Elbert County$2,169$132,68519.6%
Fremont County$1,436$62,66427.5%
Garfield County$1,781$91,13123.5%
Gilpin County$2,169$95,36127.3%
Grand County$1,844$88,61225.0%
Gunnison County$1,437$84,52720.4%
Hinsdale County$1,316$75,97220.8%
Huerfano County$1,116$52,52625.5%
Jackson County$1,485$47,66737.4%
Jefferson County$2,169$110,65623.5%
Kiowa County$1,319$58,61827.0%
Kit Carson County$1,241$70,25921.2%
La Plata County$1,821$86,05625.4%
Lake County$1,485$96,57518.5%
Larimer County$1,759$93,76522.5%
Las Animas County$1,291$52,07429.7%
Lincoln County$1,070$62,86120.4%
Logan County$1,249$51,82928.9%
Mesa County$1,282$73,65820.9%
Mineral County$1,485$56,25031.7%
Moffat County$1,225$73,84919.9%
Montezuma County$1,280$65,24423.5%
Montrose County$1,321$72,12022.0%
Morgan County$1,261$73,27820.7%
Otero County$1,059$54,03723.5%
Ouray County$1,640$91,02021.6%
Park County$2,169$103,67025.1%
Phillips County$1,137$64,67421.1%
Pitkin County$2,597$102,64530.4%
Prowers County$1,050$53,50823.5%
Pueblo County$1,263$64,01023.7%
Rio Blanco County$1,165$65,47321.4%
Rio Grande County$1,220$64,41122.7%
Routt County$2,384$106,48926.9%
Saguache County$1,059$50,08225.4%
San Juan County$1,344$77,82420.7%
San Miguel County$1,631$79,02424.8%
Sedgwick County$1,014$52,38623.2%
Summit County$2,766$109,77330.2%
Teller County$1,474$85,36120.7%
Washington County$1,297$67,16723.2%
Weld County$1,647$97,09720.4%
Yuma County$1,132$60,54522.4%

Metros with member counties in Colorado

BEA 2024, U.S. = 100. Rent is a population-weighted mean of member-county benchmarks where available.

Metro areaAll-items RPPHousing RPP2BR rent / month
Boulder, CO105.2157.0$2,033
Colorado Springs, CO100.7116.2$1,616
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO105.8146.9$2,169
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO101.1120.6$1,759
Grand Junction, CO95.586.4$1,282
Greeley, CO100.2112.6$1,647
Pueblo, CO91.871.3$1,263