Cost of Living in Colorado (2026): What Renters Should Budget

Updated September 2026. Rent figures reflect Apartment List's August 2026 estimates.

Colorado's statewide median rent was $1,569 in August 2026, according to the Apartment List Rent Index, 12.9% above the national median of $1,390. At the median one-bedroom rent of $1,365, rent takes 30% of an annual household income of about $54,600 before taxes.

Where you rent changes that calculation. The city tables below show how rents vary across the state, alongside electricity, transportation, and tax considerations.

Colorado Cost of Living at a Glance

Rent figures are Apartment List statewide medians for August 2026; the extra-rent and equal-split rows are derived from them. Electricity is the EIA's 2024 average residential bill. The income tax rate is the Colorado Department of Revenue's rate for tax year 2025.

How to use these numbers: Start with the statewide rent for your unit size, find your metro in the tables below, and use the local rent and income figures as a starting point. Then check the listing's actual rent, utilities, and charges.

Is Colorado an Expensive State to Live In?

Colorado's median rent of $1,569 is 12.9% above the national median of $1,390, a difference of $179 a month. It is also above every neighboring state: Utah is $239 lower and Arizona $274 lower, and New Mexico, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, and Oklahoma are each $379 to $542 lower.

Apartment List medians across all apartment sizes, August 2026. Percentages use Colorado's median as the base. Metro and statewide medians are separate measures, shown together so you can see where each sits; the table compares medians only.

Beyond Rent: Taxes, Electricity, Insurance, and Deposits

Taxes. Colorado taxes wages at one flat rate: 4.4% for tax year 2025, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue's Individual Income Tax Guide. The rate is set per tax year and can move (it was 4.25% for tax year 2024 under a TABOR refund mechanism), so check the guide for the year you file. The state sales tax is 2.9%, and food bought for home preparation is exempt from the state portion. Cities and counties add their own sales taxes, and some of them tax groceries, so the combined rate depends on where you live.

Electricity. Colorado households used less electricity on average than U.S. households in 2024, and the average monthly residential bill was about $101 versus $142 nationally, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, averaged across all housing types. If your apartment heats with natural gas, that bill is separate from electricity, so ask which utilities are included and whether recent bills are available before you sign.

Insurance. The property owner pays the property-tax bill and insures the building. Renters policies commonly cover your belongings, additional living expenses if your unit becomes unlivable, personal liability, and medical payments for guests injured on the premises, according to the Colorado Division of Insurance, which advises reading a policy for its specific terms, limits, and exclusions. Colorado's hail and wildfire seasons are worth asking about: confirm how a particular policy handles damage to your belongings and additional living expenses if you have to leave.

Deposits and applications. Colorado law caps a security deposit at two months' rent and bars a landlord from requiring that your income be more than twice the rent (Colorado SB23-184). At the statewide one-bedroom median of $1,365, the most a landlord can ask as a deposit is $2,730. The screening limit governs what a landlord can require. The income estimates below show what would put rent at 30% of your household income before taxes.

How Rent Varies Across Colorado

Metro figures cover a broader area than the named city. If you're considering several communities around a city, start with the metro figure; if your search is limited to city limits, use the city tables. Both describe a broader market than any particular neighborhood or building.

Rent by Metro

Apartment List covers six Colorado metros, and their overall medians in August 2026 ran from $1,064 in Pueblo to $1,838 in Boulder, the highest among the six. Greeley shows why the bedroom size you need matters as much as the metro: its overall median of $1,572 is $3 above the statewide figure, but its one-bedroom median of $1,106 is the second lowest among the six metros; only Pueblo's is lower. For a one-bedroom, Greeley is priced closer to Colorado Springs than to Denver.

Apartment List monthly medians, August 2026; "vs. CO" compares each overall median with the statewide $1,569.

By region, the Denver metro and the three northern Front Range metros (Boulder, Fort Collins, and Greeley) have overall medians at or above the statewide figure, while the two southern Front Range metros, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, sit below it. Every metro in the data sits entirely within Colorado.

Rent by City

Apartment List monthly medians, August 2026, for the 12 largest Colorado cities by population in the city-level data, listed by overall median.

Cities above the statewide median ($1,569)

Cities below the statewide median

Eight of the 12 cities sit above the statewide median, and six of those eight are in the Denver metro: Denver itself and five of its suburbs. Denver's citywide median of $1,616 is $34 below the Denver metro's $1,650. Colorado Springs, the state's second-largest city, is $210 below the statewide median, and Pueblo's $1,037 is the lowest of the 26 Colorado cities in the data.

How Much Income Do You Need to Rent in Colorado?

At Colorado's median one-bedroom rent of $1,365, rent takes 30% of an annual household income of about $54,600 before taxes, or about $4,550 a month. For a median-priced two-bedroom at $1,583, the same share of income is about $63,320 for the household, or $31,660 each when two renters split the rent equally.

These calculations use Apartment List's August 2026 rent estimates and put rent at 30% of pretax household income, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) affordability standard. They cover rent alone; HUD's housing-cost measure also includes utilities.

Estimated annual household income before taxes, with rent at 30% of income (statewide: $54,600 for a one-bedroom, $63,320 for a two-bedroom)

Rent x 12 / 0.30, using Apartment List's August 2026 metro medians. A two-bedroom figure is for the whole household; two renters splitting equally would each need half.

The one-bedroom benchmark runs from $31,440 in Pueblo to $61,800 in Boulder. Use the Cost of Living Calculator to compare a specific Colorado city with where you live now.

Are Colorado Rents Rising or Falling?

Colorado's statewide median was $1,569 in August 2026, 2.9% below August 2025, according to Apartment List. August was the 29th month in a row that the statewide median came in below its level a year earlier; the run began in April 2024. Nationally, the median of $1,390 was 0.8% below a year earlier.

Below last year does not mean rent is still falling. Colorado's median has risen in each of the seven months from February through August 2026. The year-over-year figure is negative because the declines between August 2025 and January 2026 were larger than the gains since.

Colorado's median peaked at $1,728 in August 2022 and is 9.2% below that mark; the national median is 3.6% below its own August 2022 peak. For the current month, see the Denver rent report and the national rent report.

The Short Answer on Colorado's Cost of Living

At Colorado's statewide one-bedroom median of $1,365 (Apartment List, August 2026), rent takes 30% of about $54,600 in annual household income before taxes. That benchmark falls below $32,000 in Pueblo and rises above $61,000 in Boulder, so your metro matters more than the statewide figure. Find your metro in the tables above, then use the Cost of Living Calculator to compare a specific city with where you live now.

Appendix: Methodology and Data Sources

Apartment List reports median rents on new leases; see the Rent Estimate Methodology. Each geography and bedroom size has a separate series. The Denver metro, northern Front Range, and southern Front Range are editorial groupings of the six Colorado metros covered by Apartment List, used in this guide; Western Slope markets such as Grand Junction are not covered. The city tables show the 12 most populous of the 26 Colorado cities in the data.

How we calculated the estimates

• Income benchmarks put rent at 30% of pretax household income: monthly rent x 12 / 0.30, or rent x 40. Two-bedroom figures are household totals; equal shares halve them.
• Percent differences in the tables use Colorado's statewide median as the base. The headline comparison with the national median uses the national median as its base.
• Year-over-year changes are published fields; the 29-month streak is counted from the year-over-year file. The August 2022 peak and the 2026 monthly path are reconstructed from month-over-month growth anchored to the published August 2026 level.
• Electricity is the EIA's 2024 average monthly residential bill across all housing types: Colorado $100.57 (shown as $101) and United States $142.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Cost of Living in Colorado

What is the average rent in Colorado?

Apartment List's statewide median rent was $1,569 in August 2026 across all apartment sizes: $1,365 for a one-bedroom and $1,583 for a two-bedroom.

Is Colorado more expensive than the national average?

For rent, yes. Colorado's August 2026 median of $1,569 is 12.9% above the national median of $1,390, according to Apartment List.

How much do you need to make to rent in Colorado?

At the 30% standard, a one-bedroom at Colorado's statewide median of $1,365 (Apartment List, August 2026) takes 30% of about $54,600 in annual household income before taxes. A two-bedroom at $1,583 takes 30% of about $63,320, or $31,660 each for two renters splitting equally. These figures cover rent alone.

Are Colorado rents going up or down?

Below last year, but rising this year. The statewide median in August 2026 was 2.9% below August 2025, the 29th consecutive month below the year-earlier level, and it has risen in each month from February through August 2026.

Does Colorado have a state income tax?

Yes, a flat tax on wages: 4.4% for tax year 2025, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue. The rate is set per tax year and was 4.25% for tax year 2024.

How much can a Colorado landlord charge for a security deposit?

No more than two months' rent under Colorado SB23-184, which also bars landlords from requiring income above twice the rent.

Where is rent cheapest in Colorado?

Among the metros and cities covered by Apartment List, Pueblo. The Pueblo metro's August 2026 median of $1,064 is 32.2% below the statewide $1,569, and the city's $1,037 is the lowest of the 26 Colorado cities in the data.