Boulder vs Colorado Springs leftover
Moving to Colorado Springs costs you $156 a month
$2,335/mo leftover in Colorado Springs vs $2,491 in Boulder after tax and rent ($156 less). −$1,872 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Boulder leftover
$2,491
a month after tax and rent
Colorado Springs leftover
$2,335
−$156 vs Boulder
Compare Boulder to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Boulder.
Monthly gap
Boulder → Colorado Springs
$156
less / month in Boulder
$2,335 in Colorado Springs · $2,491 in Boulder · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 183 households moved Boulder → Colorado Springs (avg AGI $68,202). 190 went the other way. The whole move →
−$156 / mo
| Per month | Boulder | Colorado Springs | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,792 | $7,410 | −$382 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,901 | $1,771 | −$130 |
| Take-home pay | $5,891 | $5,639 | −$252 |
| Rent | $1,647 | $1,298 | −$349 |
| Getting around | $342 | $571 | +$229 |
| Groceries | $389 | $396 | +$7 |
| Healthcare | $438 | $446 | +$8 |
| Utilities | $243 | $248 | +$5 |
| Everything else | $341 | $347 | +$6 |
| Left over | $2,491 | $2,335 | −$156 |
To break even in Colorado Springs, you'd need to earn
$92,000
Household gross, versus $93,500 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Boulder does now.
The tax difference alone
+$202
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.4% in Boulder, 23.9% in Colorado Springs.
More about Colorado Springs
Boulder, CO in full
A flat 4.4% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,961 and 250 sunny days; commutes average 23 minutes.
Colorado Springs, CO in full
Denver's mountains and sunshine, with the lowest property tax on this list.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Colorado Springs on Colorado Springs wages.
Colorado Springs → Boulder →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Colorado Springs than Boulder?
A one-bedroom is about $1,647 in Boulder versus $1,298 in Colorado Springs. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $156 a month lower in Colorado Springs. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Colorado Springs have state income tax?
Colorado Springs is in Colorado, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Boulder to Colorado Springs?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Colorado tax, rent is priced at the same bedroom count, and leftover is the gap. The from-to page also lists IRS households that already made the move, when that data exists.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Boulder and Colorado Springs moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.