Moving to Colorado from Montana
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Montana to Colorado — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Montana to Colorado, you would find that Colorado is 12.4% more expensive than Montana. A $75,000 salary in Montana would need to be roughly $84,300 in Colorado to maintain the same lifestyle.
How Far Will Your Money Go?
How your spending power changes when you relocate from Montana to Colorado.
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $84,300
To maintain the same standard of living in Colorado
Calculate with your salary →The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 1.1% less
Groceries
pay 8.8% more
Transportation
pay 13.7% more
Housing
pay 22.8% more
Childcare
pay 13.3% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 7.5% 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 7% more than cities in Montana.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Montana 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
Montana 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 generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Montana leads in diabetes rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Montana 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
Montana 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 performs significantly better than Montana across all employment & economy metrics.
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 Montana 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
What's the Climate Like?
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Helena | Denver |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 40°/18°F (4°/-8°C) | 48°/21°F (9°/-6°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 67°/41°F (19°/5°C) | 72°/43°F (22°/6°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 81°/50°F (27°/10°C) | 85°/55°F (29°/13°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 45°/22°F (7°/-6°C) | 53°/26°F (12°/-3°C) |
View all months
| Month | Helena | Denver |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33°/13°F (0.7°/-10.6°C) | 44°/17°F (6.7°/-8.1°C) |
| Feb | 39°/17°F (3.7°/-8.4°C) | 46°/19°F (7.9°/-7.3°C) |
| Mar | 48°/24°F (9.0°/-4.3°C) | 54°/26°F (12.4°/-3.1°C) |
| Apr | 58°/32°F (14.3°/0.1°C) | 62°/33°F (16.4°/0.7°C) |
| May | 67°/41°F (19.5°/4.9°C) | 71°/43°F (21.9°/5.9°C) |
| Jun | 76°/49°F (24.3°/9.2°C) | 82°/52°F (28.0°/11.3°C) |
| Jul | 86°/54°F (29.8°/12.4°C) | 89°/59°F (31.9°/14.9°C) |
| Aug | 85°/52°F (29.2°/11.2°C) | 87°/58°F (30.7°/14.4°C) |
| Sep | 73°/43°F (22.6°/6.2°C) | 78°/48°F (25.8°/9.1°C) |
| Oct | 59°/33°F (14.8°/0.3°C) | 65°/37°F (18.5°/2.6°C) |
| Nov | 43°/22°F (6.2°/-5.6°C) | 52°/24°F (11.2°/-4.2°C) |
| Dec | 32°/12°F (-0.2°/-11.2°C) | 43°/17°F (6.0°/-8.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Colorado than Montana?
Day-to-day costs in Colorado run about 12% higher than Montana 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 $21,075 in Colorado for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Colorado safe?
Montana performs better than Colorado across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Colorado compared to Montana?
Colorado generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Montana leads in diabetes rate.
What's the weather like in Colorado compared to Montana?
The average high temperature in Denver is 65°F, compared to 58°F in Helena. Denver receives around 14.3 in of rainfall per year, while Helena gets 11.2 in.
