Prices, pay, taxes, homes and family budgets, county by county, from the same official data the site's calculators use.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures price levels in every state against a national average of 100. Colorado scores 103.1 overall, so a $75,000 salary at average US prices buys what $77,289 buys here. Compare any salary with another state.
| Price level | Colorado (US = 100) | Rank, most expensive first |
|---|---|---|
| Everything | 103.1 | 13th of 51 |
| Rents | 127.4 | 5th of 51 |
| Goods | 98.7 | — |
| Other services | 99.6 | — |
Home electricity averaged 14.92 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2024, against 17.06 across all states. A gallon of regular gas cost $4.25 at the end of August 2026, against $4.12.
Across all 2,873,900 jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in Colorado, the median pay is $59,800 a year, or $28.75 an hour; that ranks 5th of the 50 states and DC. One worker in ten earns less than $36,350 and one in ten more than $136,330.
Colorado taxes wages at a flat 4.4%. The brackets in Colorado. A single filer on the median $59,800, with no retirement or health deductions, takes home about $47,598 a year, or $1,831 every two weeks, after $4,996 of federal income tax, $4,575 of Social Security and Medicare and $2,631 of state income tax. Work out your own paycheck in Colorado.
The five occupations employing the most people, with their median annual pay:
| Occupation | Jobs | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 82,010 | $36,270 |
| Retail Salespersons | 76,660 | $37,950 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 55,520 | $42,350 |
| Registered Nurses | 54,490 | $100,260 |
| Cashiers | 51,670 | $36,870 |
Of the 20 largest occupations, the best paid are software developers ($138,390), general and operations managers ($131,840), project management specialists ($110,050). See what common jobs pay in every state.
Across the 62 Colorado counties with their own Zillow home value, the median typical home is worth $454,573, and across the 34 with their own rent figure the median typical rent is $2,020 a month. A typical home costs 4.43 years of the county's median family income, at the median county.
With 10% down at 7.03%, the average 30-year rate on September 24, 2026, that home costs about $3,544 a month with tax, insurance and mortgage insurance, which takes $151,892 a year of income under the usual 28% guideline. The median family can afford its own county's typical home in 12.9% of Colorado's counties, against 44.9% of counties nationally. Try it with your own income.
At the median county, home values changed 0.0% over the past year and +17.6% over five years, and rents +1.2% over the past year.
The most expensive Colorado counties are Pitkin County ($2,651,287), San Miguel County ($1,602,520) and Eagle County ($1,298,553); the least expensive are Bent County ($125,778), Crowley County ($157,248) and Otero County ($158,179).
The Economic Policy Institute prices what a modest but adequate standard of living costs in every county: housing, food, transport, healthcare, childcare, other necessities and taxes. In the median Colorado county, that comes to $50,571 a year for one adult and $114,583 for two adults and two children, of which $20,968 is childcare. The national averages are $47,367 and $101,771. Median family income in the median county is $88,062.
| Two adults, two children | Per year, median county | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $15,018 | $1,252 |
| Food | $12,968 | $1,081 |
| Transportation | $20,668 | $1,722 |
| Healthcare | $20,142 | $1,679 |
| Childcare | $20,968 | $1,747 |
| Other necessities | $8,603 | $717 |
| Taxes | $17,973 | $1,498 |
Each line is its own median across counties, so the lines do not add up exactly to the total.
The Department of Education's College Scorecard lists 84 colleges in Colorado, 32 of them public. The median public college reports a cost of attendance of $21,526 a year, covering tuition, housing, books and other expenses. Ten years after enrolling, the median school's former students earn $42,169. Compare degrees and schools.
| Adams County | $482,406 | −3.1% | $1,827 | $105,815 | $135,542 |
| Alamosa County | $325,704 | +3.0% | $1,075 | $62,874 | $109,824 |
| Arapahoe County | $510,848 | −2.6% | $1,825 | $120,608 | $169,826 |
| Archuleta County | $575,956 | −1.4% | $1,958 | $88,193 | $122,119 |
| Baca County | — | — | — | $56,905 | $93,614 |
| Bent County | $125,778 | +4.1% | — | $63,333 | $93,937 |
| Boulder County | $718,716 | −1.4% | $2,246 | $142,534 | $146,410 |
| Broomfield County | $624,180 | −1.0% | $2,081 | $157,926 | $143,515 |
| Chaffee County | $695,584 | +0.8% | $2,487 | $95,370 | $127,450 |
| Cheyenne County | $199,228 | +1.0% | — | $80,563 | $106,704 |
| Clear Creek County | $567,346 | −1.2% | $2,256 | $143,571 | $127,587 |
| Conejos County | $216,304 | +2.9% | — | $65,875 | $109,882 |
| Costilla County | $181,223 | −6.6% | — | $55,491 | $109,007 |
| Crowley County | $157,248 | −6.8% | — | $65,964 | $115,596 |
| Custer County | $414,128 | −0.1% | — | $80,069 | $105,574 |
| Delta County | $415,949 | +2.7% | $1,430 | $74,365 | $100,996 |
| Denver County | $540,198 | −2.6% | $1,895 | $119,331 | $139,827 |
| Dolores County | $323,243 | +2.9% | — | $78,519 | $110,701 |
| Douglas County | $705,114 | −2.1% | $2,296 | $164,967 | $149,889 |
| Eagle County | $1,298,553 | +2.4% | $3,179 | $123,283 | $149,812 |
| El Paso County | $454,073 | −1.5% | $1,788 | $104,641 | $125,470 |
| Elbert County | $687,219 | −2.0% | $3,425 | $140,816 | $135,036 |
| Fremont County | $342,522 | −1.5% | $1,434 | $80,121 | $100,763 |
| Garfield County | $714,234 | +3.8% | $2,532 | $97,727 | $134,501 |
| Gilpin County | $547,743 | −4.0% | — | $109,167 | $131,586 |
| Grand County | $750,003 | −1.1% | $2,985 | $117,315 | $144,727 |
| Gunnison County | $726,407 | +3.8% | $2,500 | $119,907 | $112,849 |
| Hinsdale County | $491,333 | 0.0% | — | $76,827 | $125,325 |
| Huerfano County | $273,190 | −0.4% | — | $68,050 | $104,333 |
| Jackson County | — | — | — | — | $121,863 |
| Jefferson County | $620,991 | −1.9% | $1,963 | $133,411 | $147,671 |
| Kiowa County | $169,950 | −6.4% | — | $78,036 | $108,528 |
| Kit Carson County | $239,191 | +4.5% | — | $81,346 | $110,391 |
| La Plata County | $689,415 | +2.5% | $2,013 | $108,774 | $131,621 |
| Lake County | $521,421 | +1.7% | $2,333 | $119,107 | $125,291 |
| Larimer County | $554,631 | −0.9% | $1,956 | $118,466 | $132,310 |
| Las Animas County | $245,318 | −4.0% | — | $70,496 | $102,724 |
| Lincoln County | $262,443 | +5.2% | — | $94,167 | $106,759 |
| Logan County | $255,502 | +1.5% | $1,012 | $79,831 | $102,168 |
| Mesa County | $436,447 | +2.2% | $1,718 | $88,062 | $105,249 |
| Mineral County | $455,072 | +2.8% | — | $63,487 | $119,148 |
| Moffat County | $308,826 | +1.6% | — | $93,786 | $116,403 |
| Montezuma County | $417,161 | +2.8% | $1,698 | $76,992 | $108,353 |
| Montrose County | $463,999 | +2.4% | $2,026 | $81,516 | $106,304 |
| Morgan County | $335,083 | 0.0% | $1,361 | $85,582 | $104,275 |
| Otero County | $158,179 | −7.1% | — | $70,964 | $91,385 |
| Ouray County | $809,784 | +4.9% | — | $96,745 | $139,728 |
| Park County | $523,334 | −1.6% | $2,529 | $116,972 | $152,591 |
| Phillips County | $264,360 | +3.3% | — | $85,958 | $108,084 |
| Pitkin County | $2,651,287 | +8.6% | $16,198 | $128,233 | $165,172 |
| Prowers County | $173,986 | −1.3% | — | $70,208 | $100,614 |
| Pueblo County | $286,965 | −2.5% | $1,390 | $76,912 | $101,860 |
| Rio Blanco County | $333,410 | +4.3% | — | $89,283 | $105,341 |
| Rio Grande County | $328,859 | +2.1% | — | $84,667 | $111,158 |
| Routt County | $1,134,563 | +3.6% | $3,262 | $125,927 | $144,796 |
| Saguache County | $252,909 | −4.2% | — | $61,144 | $104,127 |
| San Juan County | $562,639 | +3.1% | — | $86,875 | $130,648 |
| San Miguel County | $1,602,520 | +6.4% | — | $110,625 | $151,220 |
| Sedgwick County | $170,324 | −3.1% | — | $77,212 | $104,149 |
| Summit County | $979,231 | 0.0% | $3,364 | $129,246 | $167,649 |
| Teller County | $480,907 | −1.7% | $2,089 | $103,012 | $113,569 |
| Washington County | $259,348 | +0.1% | — | $80,865 | $110,703 |
| Weld County | $495,359 | −2.2% | $1,739 | $107,207 | $122,677 |
| Yuma County | $286,689 | +5.6% | — | $73,869 | $112,227 |
A dash means the source publishes no figure for that county. Home values and rents are Zillow's own county figures only; counties Zillow does not cover are left blank rather than filled with a state average.
Denver, CO (typical rent $1,930), Colorado Springs, CO (typical rent $1,791).
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County figures are medians across Colorado's counties, each counting once, so they describe the spread of places rather than of people. Property tax and insurance vary widely; the calculators let you use your own.