The 10 Best Places To Buy A House In Colorado For 2022


Using science and data, we can tell you which places in Colorado have seen home prices rising and people flocking over the past year.

Chris Kolmar, About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: April 5, 2022
Editor’s note: This is not investment advice and we are not financial advisers. Article updated for 2022.

There's a the age old question everyone thinks about when they decide to move to a city in Colorado:

Should I buy a place or rent? Well, we aren't here today to solve that problem for you exactly. We are just assuming you'll do the right thing and a buy a place. And while we are happy to tell you the best place to live in Colorado, this analysis is going to tackle the question of the best place to buy a house as an investor. That is we are going to try and determine the up and coming cities in the Centennial State.

To do that we are going to look at places in Colorado that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average. In every day terms, the "deals". The best deal in Colorado at the moment? That would be Breckenridge according to our analysis.

Here's a look at the top ten places to buy a home in Colorado for 2022.

The 10 Best Places To Buy A Home In Colorado For 2022

  1. Breckenridge
  2. Glendale
  3. Manitou Springs
  4. Brush
  5. Edgewater
  6. Salida
  7. Severance
  8. Vail
  9. Eaton
  10. Sheridan

What's the best place to buy a home in Colorado for 2022? According to our analysis, would the the ideal place to buy a home looking into the future.

The methodology that wen't into this can be a bit complicated, so we'll break it down for you in as much detail as we can below. If you're not worried about finding a deal on good places to live, check out the most expensive places to live in Colorado and, for those of you on a budget, the cheapest places to live in Colorado.

For more Colorado reading, check out:

The 10 Best Cities To Buy A House In Colorado For 2022

1. Breckenridge

Breckenridge, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Av9 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 5,054
Median Home Price: $450,400
Population Change: 2.3%
Home Price Change: -5.1%
More on Breckenridge: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

2. Glendale

Glendale, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Dbkilo at en.wikipedia | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 5,186
Median Home Price: $252,600
Population Change: 0.2%
Home Price Change: -4.7%
More on Glendale: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

3. Manitou Springs

Manitou Springs, CO

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 5,342
Median Home Price: $415,400
Population Change: 1.1%
Home Price Change: 13.7%
More on Manitou Springs: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

4. Brush

Brush, CO

Source: Flickr User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,408
Median Home Price: $179,000
Population Change: 0.2%
Home Price Change: 13.9%
More on Brush: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

5. Edgewater

Edgewater, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 5,410
Median Home Price: $446,300
Population Change: 1.5%
Home Price Change: 9.3%
More on Edgewater: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

6. Salida

Salida, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Galt57 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 5,543
Median Home Price: $342,200
Population Change: -4.3%
Home Price Change: 4.3%
More on Salida: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

7. Severance

Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 5,611
Median Home Price: $378,000
Population Change: 18.3%
Home Price Change: 4.3%
More on Severance: Homes For Sale | Data

8. Vail

Vail, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Nick Csakany | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 5,614
Median Home Price: $793,600
Population Change: 2.5%
Home Price Change: 2.6%
More on Vail: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

9. Eaton

Eaton, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Charles M. Sauer -- Charl | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 5,646
Median Home Price: $328,800
Population Change: 6.2%
Home Price Change: 14.9%
More on Eaton: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

10. Sheridan

Sheridan, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,072
Median Home Price: $262,300
Population Change: -0.3%
Home Price Change: 15.3%
More on Sheridan: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Colorado for 2022?

We were in real estate for almost five years and have been working on this site for another three. Suffice is to say, we've put a lot of thought into what goes into finding a good place to buy a home.

So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we'd approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Colorado. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Colorado with undervalued homes relative to pent up demand.

Best Places To Retire In Colorado

To do that we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2016-2020 and compared it to the previous vintage (2012-2016). Specifically, we used the following criteria:

  • Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
  • Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
  • Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It's still kinda cheap)

We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still "cheap" for Colorado with the following caveats:

So of the 0 cities and towns in Colorado, only 80 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.

We then ranked each place from 1 to 80 for the criteria mentioned above with 1 being the best for that criteria. We averaged the rankings to create a "best place to buy" index with the place having the lowest index being the best. You can download the data here.

Turns out that Breckenridge is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Centennial State.

Read on for more on these places.

Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Colorado for 2022

There's our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Colorado. And, to be clear, we aren't necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.

In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 0 places in the state.

So if we'd could rent or buy in these cities, we'd definitely buy.

For more Colorado reading, check out:

Home Prices By City In Colorado

City Rank Median Home Price Population Change Home Price Increase
Breckenridge 1 $450,400 2.3% -5.1%
Glendale 2 $252,600 0.2% -4.7%
Manitou Springs 3 $415,400 1.1% 13.7%
Brush 4 $179,000 0.2% 13.9%
Edgewater 5 $446,300 1.5% 9.3%
Salida 6 $342,200 -4.3% 4.3%
Severance 7 $378,000 18.3% 4.3%
Vail 8 $793,600 2.5% 2.6%
Eaton 9 $328,800 6.2% 14.9%
Sheridan 10 $262,300 -0.3% 15.3%
Dacono 11 $326,500 11.4% 22.7%
Estes Park 12 $449,100 2.0% 8.7%
Gunnison 13 $259,500 3.9% 6.1%
Carbondale 14 $645,000 -1.9% 30.0%
Cherry Hills Village 15 $1,919,500 0.5% 11.1%
Avon 16 $543,500 2.6% 13.7%
Lochbuie 17 $275,200 6.4% 9.2%
Eagle 18 $596,000 0.6% 11.9%
La Junta 19 $94,800 0.2% 3.7%
Gypsum 20 $388,800 -1.7% 6.7%
Lamar 21 $105,500 0.4% 6.1%
Monument 22 $410,800 4.0% 7.7%
Aspen 23 $558,000 3.9% -12.3%
Milliken 24 $306,700 9.4% 11.5%
Woodland Park 25 $343,200 5.1% 6.1%
Trinidad 26 $145,700 -0.0% 8.0%
Berthoud 27 $365,800 19.2% 6.7%
Fort Lupton 28 $284,100 5.7% 18.1%
Wellington 29 $340,300 -6.7% 5.2%
Cortez 30 $166,800 0.6% -2.1%
Delta 31 $186,300 0.7% 9.3%
Craig 32 $173,500 0.6% -0.1%
Alamosa 33 $153,800 -0.9% -6.6%
Rifle 34 $275,700 1.3% 11.9%
Glenwood Springs 35 $436,700 1.3% 6.6%
Frederick 36 $387,800 -18.4% 6.8%
Castle Pines 37 $652,300 3.6% 6.0%
Fort Morgan 38 $184,300 -0.6% 8.5%
Steamboat Springs 39 $585,500 0.9% 0.2%
Firestone 40 $371,500 -6.2% 4.9%
Superior 41 $603,600 1.6% 4.6%
Lone Tree 42 $669,300 3.5% 5.6%
Federal Heights 43 $71,700 6.2% 11.5%
Fruita 44 $245,100 6.3% 9.7%
John 45 $364,100 -3.7% 8.3%
Sterling 46 $141,100 -0.4% 3.1%
Greenwood Village 47 $939,200 -4.1% 1.2%
Louisville 48 $627,500 -7.3% 6.9%
Montrose 49 $232,200 0.8% 9.7%
Durango 50 $472,800 4.4% 2.0%
Golden 51 $541,400 -1.5% 3.7%
Evans 52 $237,400 7.8% 6.2%
Windsor 53 $425,300 -11.7% 4.7%
Erie 54 $514,000 12.1% 9.7%
Lafayette 55 $458,300 -2.7% 8.6%
Fountain 56 $259,000 1.5% 13.0%
Wheat Ridge 57 $426,500 1.8% 11.1%
Englewood 58 $379,300 1.7% 10.1%
Brighton 59 $337,100 -3.7% 9.1%
Northglenn 60 $331,200 0.6% 11.2%
Littleton 61 $446,500 -3.7% 8.7%
Parker 62 $446,100 2.0% 6.2%
Commerce City 63 $340,100 -1.0% 6.2%
Grand Junction 64 $251,400 0.3% 6.0%
Castle Rock 65 $444,800 4.4% 5.4%
Broomfield 66 $450,600 2.3% 9.0%
Loveland 67 $339,500 6.2% 8.2%
Longmont 68 $396,000 1.5% 9.2%
Greeley 69 $274,800 1.5% 10.9%
Boulder 70 $736,000 2.2% 5.1%
Centennial 71 $458,300 1.0% 5.6%
Pueblo 72 $149,600 0.8% 6.1%
Westminster 73 $363,500 1.7% 6.6%
Arvada 74 $424,100 1.2% 10.3%
Thornton 75 $349,000 5.3% 8.3%
Lakewood 76 $398,200 0.4% 9.2%
Fort Collins 77 $398,800 0.3% 8.4%
Aurora 78 $322,200 2.8% 11.1%
Colorado Springs 79 $294,500 1.5% 9.2%
Denver 80 $427,600 1.5% 9.5%
Download The Entire Colorado Ranking Data

How Is The Area In ?

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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