Grand Junction, CO
Grand Junction, CO Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Grand Junction, CO Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Grand Junction ranks 170th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 153rd for income. A household earns $75,231 a year while median rent runs $1,259/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 5% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is commute (4th of 300), while job market is the soft spot (258th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 152nd and home prices 222nd 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 Grand Junction, your take-home is worth about $61,488 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further 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
- 153rd of 300↑24.3%$75,231
- 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.
- 157th of 30095 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $78,796
- Per-capita income
- $40,608
- Full-time pay
- $46,532
Housing
- Median rent
- 152nd of 300↑28.3%$1,259/mo
- Home value
- 222nd of 300↑56.4%$410,200
- Property tax
- $1,580/yr · 0.4%
- Sales tax
- 7.86%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 258th of 3006%
- Bachelor's+
- 101st of 30037.7%
- Avg commute
- 4th of 30018 min
People
- Population
- 161,260
- Population change
- +4.6%
- Median age
- 42.0 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 3.9%
- Broadband
- 91.5%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 177th of 30048
- Natural-hazard loss
- 33rd of 300$8/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 82nd of 30016.6%
- 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
- + Commute
- + Hazard safety
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Home prices
- – Job market
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — grand junction walker fld.
What jobs pay in Grand Junction
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $186,060
- IT managers
- $168,850
- Financial managers
- $148,770
- Pharmacists
- $147,170
- Software developers
- $123,990
- Lawyers
- $113,610
- General & operations managers
- $107,130
- Registered nurses
- $95,990
- Police officers
- $93,640
- Civil engineers
- $92,450
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,870
- Secondary school teachers
- $64,060
- Plumbers
- $61,430
- Carpenters
- $60,230
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $56,600
- Electricians
- $56,550
- Elementary school teachers
- $52,230
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $47,690
- Construction laborers
- $44,740
- Waiters & waitresses
- $43,730
- Customer service reps
- $41,490
- Janitors
- $38,190
- Retail salespersons
- $35,630
- Cashiers
- $34,390
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 Grand Junction 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.
- California926
- Utah601
- Montana540
- Florida349
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Grand Junction
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Grand Junction metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Grand Junction metro?
- Median gross rent across the Grand Junction, CO Metro Area is $1,259 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Grand Junction.
- What is the median household income in the Grand Junction metro?
- A typical household in the Grand Junction, CO Metro Area earns $75,231 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Grand Junction expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Grand Junction, CO Metro Area runs about 5% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Grand Junction metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $78,796 (versus its face value of $75,231). CityLedger rates the Grand Junction, CO Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Grand Junction metro?
- The median home value across the Grand Junction, CO Metro Area is $410,200 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Grand Junction metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Grand Junction, CO Metro Area is 6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).