Cost of living comparison
compared to
Colorado vs. Montana Cost of Living Summary
Colorado is 12.4% more expensive than Montana.
Colorado vs. Montana Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Colorado instead of Montana, you would:
pay 1.1% less for restaurants
|
Montana
|
Colorado
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$19.71
|
$20.04
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.64
|
$11.71
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.63
|
$2.81
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.17
|
$2.21
|
|
Montana vs. Colorado - Cost of restaurants
pay 8.8% more for groceries
|
Montana
|
Colorado
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.53
|
$3.75
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.47
|
$6.72
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.12
|
$3.89
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.27
|
$4.86
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.42
|
$5.11
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.17
|
$2.28
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.77
|
$0.68
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.82
|
$2.01
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.76
|
$2.13
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.89
|
$1.32
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.01
|
$1.33
|
|
Montana vs. Colorado - Cost of groceries
pay 13.7% more for transportation
|
Montana
|
Colorado
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.79
|
$3.77
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$39.33
|
$76.33
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$33,165.71
|
$33,330.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$22.70
|
$15.88
|
|
Montana vs. Colorado - Cost of transportation
pay 22.8% more for housing
|
Montana
|
Colorado
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$76.54
|
$71.45
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,573.69
|
$2,019.84
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,265.88
|
$1,732.21
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$157.35
|
$140.73
|
|
Montana vs. Colorado - Cost of housing
pay 13.3% more for childcare
|
Montana
|
Colorado
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,469.66
|
$1,465.53
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$18,042.22
|
$23,211.68
|
|
Montana vs. Colorado - Cost of childcare
pay 7.5% more for entertainment and sports
|
Montana
|
Colorado
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.30
|
$6.32
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.04
|
$5.54
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.95
|
$10.27
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$64.33
|
$61.29
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$12.82
|
$14.30
|
|
Montana vs. Colorado - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 3.3% less for clothing
|
Montana
|
Colorado
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$57.00
|
$60.67
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$56.19
|
$45.03
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$95.23
|
$88.67
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$107.40
|
$118.22
|
|
Montana vs. Colorado - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this
Change currency:
Compare further: Montana vs. Colorado
Salary Calculator · Free tool
What salary would you need in Colorado?
→
Quality of Life Comparison · 15 statistics
Make 41.0% more money in Colorado
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Montana is about 1.4 times bigger than Colorado.
→
Moving from Montana to Colorado · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
→
City Size Comparison · See true size
Compare the size of Helena vs Denver
→
Explore more U.S. state comparisons
See how other U.S. states compare.
Browse all state comparisons.
Help us improve these prices
MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate.
Learn more
Ask the Elsewhere Community
Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Colorado or Montana. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.