These Are The 10 Most Affordable Places To Live In Colorado
Nothing is cheap these days - that includes the cost of living.
Those who don't actually live in Colorado might see the state as nothing more than a traveler's paradise (and perhaps, specifically for those looking to drop a lot of money), but those who live here (or, at the very least, have visited different parts of the state... and I'm talking beyond Aspen, Denver or *insert popular mountain town here*) know that Colorado, as a whole, has so much to offer.
People often choose to move to a particular area in order to live a certain way; Colorado is unique in that, residents here have the ability to live different kinds of lifestyles (depending on what part of the state you choose to reside) - from small-town to big-city living, you can make up almost any life you desire here... but can you afford it?
The Cost Of Living In Colorado
According to Zumper, the cost of living in Colorado is 21.8% higher than the national average.
The median home prices in Colorado are $600,000 compared to the national average of $378,104. Renters in Colorado are paying a premium too; some might even find themselves paying more than 11% more each month for a two-bedroom apartment than the national median.
Here are some other stats to consider when looking at the cost of living in Colorado, courtesy of Zumper.
In 2022, costs in Colorado are:
- 12% above the national average overall
- 1.6% below the national average for utilities
- 6.7% above the national average for transportation
- About the same as the national average for groceries
- 4.2% below the national average for health care
The thing about living in Colorado is - it's such a large state. As such, the cost of living can (and does) vary, depending on what part of the state you're living in... so if you want to live here, chances are you can make it work, no matter the budget.
After all, who wouldn't want to live in beautiful Colorado?
Finding The Most Affordable Places To Live In Colorado In 2022
HomeSacks suggests that, in order to determine if you can afford to live in a particular area, you should be asking yourself two main questions:
- How much money do I make?
- How much do I have to spend to live in *desired area*?
"For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing it’s actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with."
Different stats were taken into consideration after looking through the latest Census American Community Survey from 2016-2020, whose focus revolves around incomes and costs.
The stats Homesnacks took into consideration when determining the most affordable places to live in Colorado in 2022 include:
- Median Home Price / Median Income (where lower is better)
- Median Income / Median Rent (where higher is better)
- Median Home Price
A final cost of living index (see HomeSnacks full methodology here) was used in order to rank all Colorado towns/cities with a population of 5,000+.
RELATED: These Are The 25 Richest Places In Colorado
All 80 places were then given a "CheapScore", where the most affordable place to live in Colorado received the lowest one. The lower the CheapScore, the more affordable the place is to live - and the higher up on the rankings list that city/state was placed.
The 10 Most Affordable Places To Live In Colorado
According to HomeSnacks, these are the top 10 most affordable places to live in Colorado in 2022:
LOOK: The 10 Most Affordable Places To Live In Colorado
Colorado's Counties Population from Lowest to Highest
Colorado's Counties Large to Small
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