Moving to New York from Colorado
What to Expect
Considering a move from Colorado to New York? Here's how the two compare on cost, climate, safety, and more.
If you moved from Colorado to New York, you would find that New York is 5.3% more expensive than Colorado. A $75,000 salary in Colorado would need to be roughly $79,000 in New York to maintain the same lifestyle. Denver and New York City are about 1,650 mi apart.
Is New York cheaper than Colorado?
How key spending categories compare
Restaurants
pay 2.7% more
Groceries
pay 7.8% more
Transportation
pay 12.3% more
Housing
pay 1.1% more
Childcare
pay 24.7% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 5.9% more
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in New York?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $79,000
To maintain the same standard of living in New York
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in New York cost about 5% more than cities in Colorado.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
The numbers behind daily life in New York compared to Colorado.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
New York performs significantly better than Colorado across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Colorado generally does better on health & wellbeing, though New York leads in uninsured rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
New York generally does better on what about housing?, though Colorado leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Colorado performs better than New York across all infrastructure metrics.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Colorado generally does better on employment & economy, though New York leads in gdp per capita.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Colorado performs better than New York across all family life metrics.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in New York vs Colorado
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Denver | New York City |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 48°/21°F (9°/-6°C) | 43°/30°F (6°/-1°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 72°/43°F (22°/6°C) | 70°/54°F (21°/12°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 85°/55°F (29°/13°C) | 81°/66°F (27°/19°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 53°/26°F (12°/-3°C) | 54°/41°F (12°/5°C) |
View all months
| Month | Denver | New York City |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 44°/17°F (6.7°/-8.1°C) | 38°/27°F (3.5°/-2.8°C) |
| Feb | 46°/19°F (7.9°/-7.3°C) | 42°/29°F (5.3°/-1.7°C) |
| Mar | 54°/26°F (12.4°/-3.1°C) | 50°/35°F (9.8°/1.8°C) |
| Apr | 62°/33°F (16.4°/0.7°C) | 61°/45°F (16.2°/7.1°C) |
| May | 71°/43°F (21.9°/5.9°C) | 71°/54°F (21.6°/12.2°C) |
| Jun | 82°/52°F (28.0°/11.3°C) | 79°/64°F (26.3°/17.6°C) |
| Jul | 89°/59°F (31.9°/14.9°C) | 84°/69°F (28.9°/20.4°C) |
| Aug | 87°/58°F (30.7°/14.4°C) | 83°/68°F (28.1°/19.9°C) |
| Sep | 78°/48°F (25.8°/9.1°C) | 75°/61°F (24.0°/16.0°C) |
| Oct | 65°/37°F (18.5°/2.6°C) | 64°/50°F (17.7°/10.0°C) |
| Nov | 52°/24°F (11.2°/-4.2°C) | 54°/42°F (12.1°/5.3°C) |
| Dec | 43°/17°F (6.0°/-8.3°C) | 43°/32°F (6.1°/0.0°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in New York than Colorado?
On average New York is around 5% pricier than Colorado, with notable variation by city.
How much money do I need to move to New York?
Budget about $19,750 for 3 months in New York (based on a $75,000 comparable annual salary), then add the one-off costs: movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is New York safe?
New York performs significantly better than Colorado across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in New York compared to Colorado?
Colorado generally does better on health & wellbeing, though New York leads in uninsured rate.
What's the weather like in New York compared to Colorado?
The average high temperature in New York City is 62°F, compared to 65°F in Denver. New York City receives around 49.9 in of rainfall per year, while Denver gets 14.3 in.
