Boulder vs Pueblo leftover
Moving to Pueblo costs you $44 a month
$2,447/mo leftover in Pueblo vs $2,491 in Boulder after tax and rent ($44 less). −$528 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
Pueblo leftover
$2,447
−$44 vs Boulder
Compare Boulder to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Boulder.
Monthly gap
Boulder → Pueblo
$44
less / month in Boulder
$2,447 in Pueblo · $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, 30 households moved Boulder → Pueblo (avg AGI $50,467). 26 went the other way. The whole move →
−$44 / mo
| Per month | Boulder | Pueblo | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,792 | $7,105 | −$686 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,901 | $1,667 | −$234 |
| Take-home pay | $5,891 | $5,438 | −$453 |
| Rent | $1,647 | $979 | −$668 |
| Getting around | $342 | $601 | +$259 |
| Groceries | $389 | $389 | $0 |
| Healthcare | $438 | $438 | $0 |
| Utilities | $243 | $243 | $0 |
| Everything else | $341 | $341 | $0 |
| Left over | $2,491 | $2,447 | −$44 |
To break even in Pueblo, you'd need to earn
$86,000
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
+$362
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 24.4% in Boulder, 23.5% in Pueblo.
More about Pueblo
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.
Pueblo, CO in full
A flat 4.4% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,165 and 271 sunny days; commutes average 22 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Pueblo on Pueblo wages.
Pueblo → Boulder →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Pueblo than Boulder?
A one-bedroom is about $1,647 in Boulder versus $979 in Pueblo. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $44 a month lower in Pueblo. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Pueblo have state income tax?
Pueblo is in Colorado, which taxes wage income.
What changes if you move from Boulder to Pueblo?
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 Pueblo 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.