Denver, CO
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Denver ranks 11th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 11th for income. A household earns $108,046 a year while median rent runs $1,943/mo, making it comfortably affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 6% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is affordability (11th of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (291st). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 280th and home prices 281st among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Denver, your take-home is worth about $55,498 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 11th of 300↑26.2%$108,046
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 278th of 300106 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $102,140
- Per-capita income
- $60,408
- Full-time pay
- $61,081
Housing
- Median rent
- 280th of 300↑32.4%$1,943/mo
- Home value
- 281st of 300↑44.1%$631,000
- Property tax
- $3,387/yr · 0.5%
- Sales tax
- 7.86%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 129th of 3004.2%
- Bachelor's+
- 15th of 30051.6%
- Avg commute
- 252nd of 30027.7 min
People
- Population
- 3,050,512
- Population change
- +2.8%
- Median age
- 37.5 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 13.5%
- Broadband
- 95.7%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 291st of 30064
- Natural-hazard loss
- 167th of 300$14/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 15th of 30014.5%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 11.3%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Education
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Commute
- – Air quality
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — denver centennial ap.
What jobs pay in Denver
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $255,590
- IT managers
- $203,340
- Financial managers
- $193,400
- Lawyers
- $177,380
- Pharmacists
- $157,890
- General & operations managers
- $142,330
- Software developers
- $137,610
- Civil engineers
- $104,710
- Police officers
- $101,970
- Registered nurses
- $101,130
- Accountants & auditors
- $100,020
- Web developers
- $92,060
- Secondary school teachers
- $79,230
- Elementary school teachers
- $76,910
- Carpenters
- $64,910
- Plumbers
- $63,900
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $63,900
- Electricians
- $63,150
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $52,450
- Construction laborers
- $48,760
- Customer service reps
- $48,590
- Waiters & waitresses
- $39,650
- Janitors
- $38,840
- Retail salespersons
- $38,470
- Cashiers
- $37,620
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Denver metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Colorado are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- California15,104
- Texas11,146
- Florida7,234
- Illinois4,851
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Denver
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Denver metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Denver metro?
- Median gross rent across the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metro Area is $1,943 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Denver.
- What is the median household income in the Denver metro?
- A typical household in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metro Area earns $108,046 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Denver expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metro Area runs about 6% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Denver metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $102,140 (versus its face value of $108,046). CityLedger rates the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metro Area comfortably affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Denver metro?
- The median home value across the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metro Area is $631,000 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Denver metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO Metro Area is 4.2% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).