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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Colorado Springs: high income, low cost — a rare combo. Pretty standard for this type of city. Colorado Springs earns above the national median ($83,198 vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 97 vs 111). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 40 of 288 cities share it.
Colorado Springs: high income, low cost — a rare combo. Pretty standard for this type of city. Colorado Springs earns above the national median ($83,198 vs $80,367) while keeping costs below average (index 97 vs 111). That combination is exceptionally rare — only 40 of 288 cities share it.
In plain English: No second income to fall back on. That's a reasonable number. Our model scored 11 cities in Colorado on solo-living metrics. Colorado Springs leads at index 97 with rent of $1,667/mo.
What does daily life actually cost in Colorado Springs? Start with the 24% rent-to-income ratio — that's the kind of margin that lets people build savings. On the category level, Housing (index 97) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 99) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $83,198 — for better or worse — and homes at $446,132 round out a profile that ranks #1 for clear reasons. Surprising? Maybe. But the data's clear.
Digging deeper, Colorado — outdoor lifestyle with a rising price tag. The 11 cities we track here average a cost index of 103 and median income of $90,112. It's a clear buyer's market compared to national norms. The typical rent runs $1,765/month, which is $130 less than the national median.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
#1 Ranked: Colorado Springs — cost index 97, rent $1,667/mo, income $83,198
Colorado Springs: high income, low cost — a rare combo
Singles scoring: rent $1,667/mo (solo housing), cost index 97, population 488,664 — livability on one income
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado Springs | 97 | $1,667 | Details |
| 2 | Aurora | 99 | $1,689 | Details |
| 3 | Greeley | 84 | $1,442 | Details |
| 4 | Pueblo | 77 | $1,316 | Details |
| 5 | Denver | 106 | $1,818 | Details |
| 6 | Fort Collins | 115 | $1,970 | Details |
| 7 | Lakewood | 101 | $1,733 | Details |
| 8 | Thornton | 110 | $1,888 | Details |
| 9 | Arvada | 120 | $2,053 | Details |
| 10 | Westminster | 104 | $1,788 | Details |
| 11 | Centennial | 120 | $2,056 | Details |
488,664 residents · Colorado
Here's Colorado Springs by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 97. Rent: $1,667/month — for better or worse — . Income: $83,198/year. Home price: $446,132. Population: 488,664. The strongest category is Housing at 97; the most expensive is Healthcare at 99. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $2,736 per year vs. the national median. For freelancers and gig workers with variable income, this cushion is everything (that's pre-tax, of course).
177,563 residents · Colorado
The #2 spot goes to Aurora, and the breakdown explains why. And for the typical household, renters here pay $1,689/month — saving renters $2,472 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 99, keeping costs manageable. The weak spot? Healthcare at 100. At a 24% rent-to-income ratio, there's genuine breathing room in the average household budget (not adjusted for inflation, but still telling).
112,609 residents · Colorado
A closer look at Greeley: the cost index of 84 — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — breaks down to a Housing index of 84 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 97 (weakest). Median rent is $1,442/month — 24% below the national median — while household income sits at $68,650, meaning locals spend about 25% of income on rent. That's within the recommended 30% threshold, though it doesn't leave much room.
111,077 residents · Colorado
What does daily life actually cost in Pueblo? Start with the 29% rent-to-income ratio — tight but manageable for most households. On the category level, Housing (index 77) is where the real savings show up, while Healthcare (index 95) is the line item most likely to surprise newcomers. Income at $55,305 and homes at $283,780 round out a profile that ranks #4 for clear reasons.
716,577 residents · Colorado
Here's Denver by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). And for many people, cost index: 106. Nothing too surprising there. Rent: $1,818/month. Income: $91,681/year. Home price: $530,920. Population: 716,577. The strongest category is Healthcare at 101; the most expensive is Housing at 106. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $924 per year vs. the national median. Not many cities can claim this (and that gap widens if you factor in state taxes).
Colorado Springs ranks #1 in Colorado for this analysis with a cost index of 97 and median income of $83,198.
Colorado Springs scores highest for singles due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,667/mo, and above-average median income of $83,198.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Colorado Springs (ranked #1) has a cost index of 97 and rent of $1,667/mo, while Centennial (ranked #11) has a cost index of 120 and rent of $2,056/mo — a 23-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Colorado Springs is $1,667/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $228 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Colorado Springs is $446,132, which is 5.4× the local median income. Most median-income households would stretch to buy at this ratio. The national median home price is $467,370.
Colorado has a 4.4% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 7.81%, and the effective property tax rate is 0.49%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.