Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Colorado Springs's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Colorado Springs?
Your $100,000 in Colorado Springs has the same purchasing power as $95,057 in the average US city. You'd need $4,943 more here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Colorado Springs's cost index of 105, sorted by closest match.
Colorado Springs has a handful of real selling points, and they're not the kind of thing you find in a brochure. Solidly above-average earnings and walkable in a way most us cities aren't are the headliners, plus 3 more things worth knowing. The rest is below.
The typical household in Colorado Springs pulls in $79,026 — comfortably above the US median. Combined with the cost of living here, the income-to-expense ratio works out better than a quick look at either number in isolation would suggest.
With a citywide Walk Score of 59/100, Colorado Springs sits firmly in the walkable-by-US-standards camp. Pick a central neighborhood and most daily errands happen without keys in your hand.
Average AQI in Colorado Springs comes in around 26, well into the "good" band. Clean air isn't a thing you appreciate until you've lived somewhere it wasn't — and this is the side of that line you want to be on.
Average commute time in Colorado Springs runs around 23 minutes one-way — short enough that it doesn't restructure your day. Compared to the 45-plus-minute commutes that are normal in major metros, the difference adds up to a real lifestyle gap.
Colorado Springs has a college-educated share of about 41% among adults 25+, which is higher than the national norm. It shows up in the local job mix, in the school district's reputation, and in the kind of conversations you have at the coffee shop.
Reasons are pulled from Colorado Springs's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Yes — and a lot of it. With winter averages near 19°F, Colorado Springs sees real accumulation most years. Salt for the steps, tires that handle ice, and a sense of humor about February are the usual costs of admission.
Properly cold. Colorado Springs's winter sits around 19°F on average — and that's the average, meaning plenty of nights drop well below zero. People here own gear.
Reliably warm. Colorado Springs's summer averages around 84°F, the kind of heat where you remember to leave the house before noon for outdoor things and accept that the back of your shirt will be wet by lunchtime.
Colorado Springs falls in roughly USDA Zone 7. The zone classification is based on average annual minimum temperatures, so it's the right lookup for whether perennials and trees will overwinter here. Note that this is approximate from our winter-temperature data — check the USDA map for the exact zone before betting an expensive plant on it.
Roughly 6,339 feet (1,932 m) — high enough to matter physiologically. Plan on a week or two of feeling the altitude before your body recalibrates, drink more water than you think you need, and respect the sun.
Worse than the national norm, but it depends where. Colorado Springs's ~4,092 per 100,000 reflects a citywide aggregate. Some neighborhoods here are notably safer than the average; others are notably worse. Worth looking at the specific area, not the city-level number.
It's a middle-of-the-road US city on cost. Colorado Springs's index of 105 sits within a few points of the national average — your money buys roughly what it would in a typical American metro.
In parts, yes. With a citywide Walk Score of 59/100, Colorado Springs has genuinely walkable neighborhoods alongside more sprawled stretches. Transit Score is 31 out of 100. If walkability matters to you, the neighborhood choice will matter more than the city-level number.
As a rule of thumb, plan on about $73,640 to live in Colorado Springs the way a $70,000 earner lives in a typical US city. The math gets less forgiving the lower you go below that. Median rent in Colorado Springs runs about $1,464/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.