Moving to Colorado from Kansas
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Kansas to Colorado — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Kansas to Colorado, you would find that Colorado is 25.8% more expensive than Kansas. A $75,000 salary in Kansas would need to be roughly $97,009 in Colorado to maintain the same lifestyle.
How Far Will Your Money Go?
How your spending power changes when you relocate from Kansas to Colorado.
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $97,009
To maintain the same standard of living in Colorado
Calculate with your salary →The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 24.7% more
Groceries
pay 13.0% more
Transportation
pay 34.5% more
Housing
pay 43.2% more
Childcare
pay 35.0% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 14.1% 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.
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 Colorado cost about 14% more than cities in Kansas.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Kansas and Colorado stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Kansas performs 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 performs significantly better than Kansas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Kansas performs better than Colorado across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Kansas generally does better on infrastructure, though Colorado leads in internet access.
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 Kansas leads in unemployment rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Colorado performs significantly better than Kansas across all family life metrics.
Data: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, OECD Regional Demography, US Census Bureau (American Community Survey)
What's the Climate Like?
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Topeka | Denver |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 46°/25°F (8°/-4°C) | 48°/21°F (9°/-6°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 75°/53°F (24°/12°C) | 72°/43°F (22°/6°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 86°/63°F (30°/17°C) | 85°/55°F (29°/13°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 54°/32°F (12°/0°C) | 53°/26°F (12°/-3°C) |
View all months
| Month | Topeka | Denver |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39°/19°F (4.1°/-7.3°C) | 44°/17°F (6.7°/-8.1°C) |
| Feb | 44°/23°F (6.9°/-5.1°C) | 46°/19°F (7.9°/-7.3°C) |
| Mar | 56°/32°F (13.4°/0.1°C) | 54°/26°F (12.4°/-3.1°C) |
| Apr | 66°/43°F (19.1°/5.9°C) | 62°/33°F (16.4°/0.7°C) |
| May | 75°/53°F (24.1°/11.8°C) | 71°/43°F (21.9°/5.9°C) |
| Jun | 84°/63°F (28.9°/17.0°C) | 82°/52°F (28.0°/11.3°C) |
| Jul | 90°/68°F (32.2°/19.9°C) | 89°/59°F (31.9°/14.9°C) |
| Aug | 89°/65°F (31.6°/18.6°C) | 87°/58°F (30.7°/14.4°C) |
| Sep | 80°/55°F (26.7°/13.0°C) | 78°/48°F (25.8°/9.1°C) |
| Oct | 67°/44°F (19.6°/6.6°C) | 65°/37°F (18.5°/2.6°C) |
| Nov | 54°/32°F (12.3°/0.2°C) | 52°/24°F (11.2°/-4.2°C) |
| Dec | 41°/21°F (4.9°/-5.9°C) | 43°/17°F (6.0°/-8.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Colorado than Kansas?
Day-to-day costs in Colorado run about 29% higher than Kansas on average; specific cities can swing further.
How much money do I need to move to Colorado?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $24,252 in Colorado for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Colorado safe?
Kansas performs better than Colorado across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Colorado compared to Kansas?
Colorado performs significantly better than Kansas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Colorado compared to Kansas?
The average high temperature in Denver is 65°F, compared to 66°F in Topeka. Denver receives around 14.3 in of rainfall per year, while Topeka gets 38.9 in.
