Is Colorado Worth the Price?

What it costs to live here, and how good a place it is to live, in plain numbers.

Best place to live rank

#7

7th out of 50 states overall.

Better than most states for overall quality of life.

How we rank states ›

Cost to live here

#43

43rd cheapest state, about 17% above average.

To live the way $75,000 affords in an average state, you would need about $87,400 here.

How we measure cost ›

Colorado ranks 7th of 50 states for overall quality of life and 43rd for affordability. It does best on dog friendly, economy, and green space, and struggles most with climate, cost, and safety. A typical household earns about $97,100 a year, and the cost of living runs about 17% above average.

Why Colorado ranks #7 for living

Our Best Life Rank scores every state on the things that shape daily life, from cost and climate to schools and safety. Here is how Colorado scores on each, best to worst.

Dog friendly
#1 of 50
Economy
#2 of 50
Green space
#4 of 50
Healthcare
#10 of 50
Education
#11 of 50
Air quality
#11 of 50
Walkability
#13 of 50
Climate
#16 of 50
Cost of living
#43 of 50
Safety
#43 of 50

Each factor is ranked 1 (best) to 50 (worst) across all states. Green is strong, yellow is middling, red is weak.

Colorado at a glance

Typical household income

$97,100

6th highest

Typical home price

$568,000

5th highest

Overall cost of living

17% above average

43rd cheapest

Total taxes on a typical household

About 6%

29th highest income tax

Typical commute

About 26 min

one way

Taxes in Colorado

See your real Colorado take-home pay

Enter your salary and get your actual paycheck after Colorado taxes.

Calculate my take-home pay ›
Sources: Cost and income from the U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics. Tax rates from the Tax Foundation. Best Life Rank factors from the Commonwealth Fund, NAEP, FBI, EPA, and NOAA. Cost measured by the BLISS Score, v1.3 method. Updated 2026.