The 10 Most Expensive Places To Live In Colorado For 2023


We used science and data to determine which cities in Colorado that will put a big dent in your wallet.

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Editor’s Note: We updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the most expensive places to live in Colorado.

Everyone wants a home that mixes affordability with comfort and Colorado does this very well. Families love the Centennial State's beaches, midlands, and mountains as tourists before moving here and calling it home.

But before you decide to relocate, you have to do some research into the exact cost of living around the state -- and that's how we're going to help you.

These are the places in Colorado that cost a pretty penny -- the most expensive cities in the state.

After we saved up for months and could finally afford it, we landed on this list of the ten most expensive cities in Colorado for 2023.

So where is the most expensive place to live in Colorado? That would be Boulder.
the 2017-2021 American Community Survey for the 75 places in Colorado with more than 5,000 people.

Here are the 10 most expensive places to live in Colorado for 2023:

  1. Boulder
  2. Avon
  3. Steamboat Springs
  4. Carbondale
  5. Edgewater
  6. Durango
  7. Golden
  8. Estes Park
  9. Fort Collins
  10. Lakewood

What's the most expensive place to live in Colorado? Well, HomeSnacks crunched the numbers and discovered that Boulder is the most expensive place to live in Colorado.

So hopefully La Junta (the cheapest place to live in Colorado) can show these guys how to live on a budget in the coming years. Read on for how these places had costs rise faster than inflation.

And if you already knew these places were expensive, check out some more reading about Colorado and the most expensive cities in the country:

The 10 Most Expensive Places To Live In Colorado For 2023

1. Boulder

Boulder, CO

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 104,930
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 10.5x (most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 43.8x (3rd most expensive)
More on Boulder: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Boulder comes in at $74,902 and the median home value is $790,100 for 2023.

2. Avon

Avon, CO

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 6,209
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 7.1x (9th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 46.2x (6th most expensive)
More on Avon: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Avon comes in at $74,450 and the median home value is $531,600 for 2023.

3. Steamboat Springs

Steamboat Springs, CO

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 13,193
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 7.8x (4th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 51.0x (18th most expensive)
More on Steamboat Springs: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Steamboat Springs comes in at $80,660 and the median home value is $628,800 for 2023.

4. Carbondale

Carbondale, CO

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 6,464
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 7.4x (6th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 51.7x (20th most expensive)
More on Carbondale: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Carbondale comes in at $86,321 and the median home value is $638,000 for 2023.

5. Edgewater

Edgewater, CO

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 5,047
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 7.2x (8th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 48.7x (10th most expensive)
More on Edgewater: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Edgewater comes in at $65,794 and the median home value is $473,600 for 2023.

6. Durango

Durango, CO

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 18,953
Rank Last Year: 7 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 7.3x (7th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 51.7x (2most expensive)
More on Durango: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Durango comes in at $68,550 and the median home value is $497,100 for 2023.

7. Golden

Golden, CO

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 20,041
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 6.9x (10th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 54.3x (30th most expensive)
More on Golden: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Golden comes in at $83,976 and the median home value is $579,800 for 2023.

8. Estes Park

Estes Park, CO

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,942
Rank Last Year: 17 (Up 8)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 8.3x (2nd most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 53.3x (26th most expensive)
More on Estes Park: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Estes Park comes in at $56,166 and the median home value is $463,400 for 2023.

9. Fort Collins

Fort Collins, CO

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 166,788
Rank Last Year: 16 (Up 6)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 5.9x (17th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 50.5x (16th most expensive)
More on Fort Collins: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Fort Collins comes in at $72,932 and the median home value is $431,300 for 2023.

10. Lakewood

Lakewood, CO

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 155,608
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 3)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 5.7x (20th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 50.0x (13th most expensive)
More on Lakewood: Real Estate | Data | Photos

The median income in Lakewood comes in at $75,343 and the median home value is $428,800 for 2023.

Methodology: How We Determined The Most Expensive Places To Live In The Centennial State For 2023

Map Of The Cheapest Places To Live In Colorado
The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford if you can live comes down to:

  1. How much do money do I make?
  2. How much do I have spend to live there?

You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.

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.

With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2017-2021 around incomes and costs. They are:

  • Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
  • Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
  • Median Home Price

We added simply median home price because high home prices generally correlate with higher expenses for all costs related to homes (heating, electricity, etc).

You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in Colorado to figure out which is the most expensive.

What you are left with is a "Cost of Living Index" by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.

So we used that cost of living index in order to rank all of the 75 places in Colorado that have more than 5,000 people.

The place with the highest cost of living in Colorado according to the data is Boulder. You can download the data here.

Summary: Taking A Chunk Out Of Your Paycheck In Colorado For 2023

Well there you have it, the places in Colorado that have the highest cost of living, with Boulder ranking as the most expensive city in the Centennial State.

Here's a look at the most affordable cities in Colorado according to the data:

  1. La Junta
  2. Brush
  3. Lamar

For more Colorado reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Most Expensive Cities In Colorado

Rank City ExpensiveScore Population Home/Income Ratio Income/Rent Ratio
1 Boulder 2.33 104,930 10.5x 43.8x
2 Avon 9.67 6,209 7.1x 46.2x
3 Steamboat Springs 10.33 13,193 7.8x 51.0x
4 Carbondale 11.33 6,464 7.4x 51.7x
5 Edgewater 13.0 5,047 7.2x 48.7x
6 Durango 14.67 18,953 7.3x 51.7x
7 Golden 17.33 20,041 6.9x 54.3x
8 Estes Park 17.67 5,942 8.3x 53.3x
9 Fort Collins 21.0 166,788 5.9x 50.5x
10 Lakewood 21.33 155,608 5.7x 50.0x
11 Denver 23.33 706,799 5.9x 52.3x
12 Salida 24.0 5,671 6.0x 50.1x
13 Lafayette 24.67 30,307 5.2x 54.8x
14 Gunnison 25.67 6,459 6.2x 43.9x
15 Glenwood Springs 25.67 10,017 6.7x 56.4x
16 Lone Tree 26.0 13,701 6.1x 63.1x
17 Wheat Ridge 26.33 32,340 6.3x 55.9x
18 Greenwood Village 26.33 15,548 7.6x 71.1x
19 Sheridan 27.33 6,090 5.8x 37.5x
20 Gypsum 27.67 8,047 4.6x 46.8x
21 Westminster 28.33 115,535 4.8x 50.3x
22 Longmont 28.67 98,789 5.1x 54.0x
23 Aurora 29.33 383,496 4.9x 48.7x
24 Superior 29.33 13,283 5.0x 60.9x
25 Eagle 30.0 7,420 6.3x 69.4x
26 Northglenn 30.33 37,899 4.8x 49.3x
27 Englewood 31.0 33,500 5.7x 54.9x
28 Loveland 31.0 75,938 4.9x 51.1x
29 Littleton 31.0 45,465 5.7x 58.7x
30 Louisville 31.67 21,091 5.4x 68.3x
31 Erie 33.67 29,367 4.0x 54.8x
32 Broomfield 36.67 72,697 4.5x 59.3x
33 Woodland Park 37.0 7,854 4.3x 51.9x
34 Greeley 37.0 107,014 4.9x 53.4x
35 Breckenridge 37.67 5,086 4.1x 56.6x
36 Thornton 38.0 140,538 4.3x 54.0x
37 Brighton 39.0 39,895 4.6x 55.5x
38 Arvada 39.0 122,903 4.7x 61.7x
39 Wellington 39.67 10,769 3.7x 45.0x
40 Centennial 40.33 107,972 4.2x 63.2x
41 Fruita 43.0 13,296 4.0x 50.0x
42 Fountain 43.0 29,495 3.8x 47.4x
43 Monument 43.33 10,026 4.1x 57.8x
44 Colorado Springs 43.33 475,282 4.5x 55.4x
45 Severance 45.0 7,691 3.6x 54.4x
46 Evans 45.67 21,727 4.0x 50.8x
47 Montrose 46.0 20,098 4.8x 56.6x
48 Commerce City 46.33 61,516 4.2x 58.4x
49 Parker 47.0 57,311 4.0x 67.8x
50 Firestone 47.0 15,949 3.9x 57.3x
51 Fort Morgan 47.67 11,483 4.2x 54.6x
52 Dacono 49.0 6,084 4.1x 56.8x
53 Castle Pines 49.33 11,296 3.7x 107.6x
54 Berthoud 49.67 10,188 4.2x 65.7x
55 Castle Rock 49.67 71,037 3.9x 69.8x
56 Delta 50.0 9,036 4.4x 56.3x
57 Fort Lupton 50.33 7,947 4.5x 62.9x
58 Milliken 50.67 8,122 4.6x 64.1x
59 Trinidad 51.33 8,318 3.9x 52.2x
60 Windsor 51.67 31,972 4.1x 74.4x
61 Federal Heights 51.67 14,111 1.5x 36.8x
62 Frederick 52.0 14,127 3.6x 60.6x
63 Grand Junction 53.0 65,067 4.6x 63.9x
64 Sterling 55.33 13,976 3.6x 52.3x
65 John 57.67 16,596 3.7x 73.1x
66 Rifle 58.33 10,325 4.1x 71.0x
67 Pueblo 58.67 111,424 3.5x 54.6x
68 Lochbuie 60.67 7,730 3.8x 65.8x
69 Eaton 62.67 5,648 3.7x 83.1x
70 Craig 63.33 9,026 3.5x 59.1x
71 Cortez 64.67 8,742 3.4x 59.1x
72 Alamosa 67.0 9,704 3.6x 63.0x
73 Lamar 67.67 7,636 2.4x 59.6x
74 Brush 69.33 5,323 3.3x 69.2x
75 La Junta 74.0 7,282 2.0x 70.1x

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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.