#5 of 66 for you
Denver, CO
Mountains in an hour, 245 sunny days, and a flat 4.4% state tax.
Left over monthly
$2,654
Versus Chicago
+$274/mo
+$3,288 a year
Local pay for your job
$99,438
Local wages run 6% vs national
Where the money goes
One earner filing as a household, at 1 bedrooms.
- Taxes$2,069
- Rent$1,490
- Other living costs$2,073
- Left over$2,654
Pay and tax, per year
- Gross household pay
- $99,438
- Federal income tax
- −$13,490
- Social Security and Medicare
- −$7,607
- State income tax (CO)
- −$3,733
- Take-home pay
- $74,608
- Effective tax rate
- 25.0%
Living costs, per month
- Rent, 1br
- $1,490
- Groceries
- $420
- Getting around
- $551
- Healthcare
- $473
- Utilities and internet
- $263
- Everything else
- $368
- Total spending
- $3,563
Left over each month
$8,287 gross, minus $2,069 in tax and $3,563 in living costs.
$2,654
What living here is like
- Weather
- 245 sunny days, 90°F in July, 18°F January nights
- Getting around
- Plan on a car per adult
- Average commute
- 27 minutes each way
- Size
- 3.0M people
- Buying instead
- Median home $570,300 — roughly $3,639/mo with 20% down, tax and upkeep
- Taxes
- Colorado income tax. Sales tax 7.8%, property tax 0.49%.
How it scores against what you said matters
- Money left over
- 67
- Sun and mild weather
- 72
- Access to the outdoors
- 96
- City life and culture
- 76
- A short commute
- 55
Chicago vs Denver, line by line
Same job, same household, both tax codes applied.
Open the comparison →Also worth a look
- Seattle, WA$3,406/mo
No state income tax and high wages, offset by home prices and 150 sunny days.
- Austin, TX$3,176/mo
No income tax, but property taxes are among the steepest anywhere.
- Houston, TX$3,159/mo
The cheapest housing of any top-10 metro, paid for in property tax and humidity.
- Dallas, TX$3,044/mo
No income tax, endless new construction, and a 1.5% property tax bill.