Moving to Colorado from New York
What to Expect
Everything you need to know before relocating from New York to Colorado — costs, safety, healthcare, and practical first steps.
If you moved from New York to Colorado, you would find that Colorado is 5.0% cheaper than New York. A $75,000 salary in New York would need to be roughly $71,200 in Colorado to maintain the same lifestyle. New York City and Denver are about 1,650 mi apart.
Is Colorado cheaper than New York?
Where you'll feel the difference day-to-day
Restaurants
pay 2.6% less
Groceries
pay 7.2% less
Transportation
pay 10.9% less
Housing
pay 1.1% less
Childcare
pay 19.8% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 5.6% less
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 Colorado?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $71,200
To maintain the same standard of living in Colorado
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 Colorado cost about 5% less than cities in New York.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
Key indicators for anyone considering a move from New York to Colorado.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
New York 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 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 significantly 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 significantly 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 Colorado vs New York
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | New York City | Denver |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 43°/30°F (6°/-1°C) | 48°/21°F (9°/-6°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 70°/54°F (21°/12°C) | 72°/43°F (22°/6°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 81°/66°F (27°/19°C) | 85°/55°F (29°/13°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 54°/41°F (12°/5°C) | 53°/26°F (12°/-3°C) |
View all months
| Month | New York City | Denver |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38°/27°F (3.5°/-2.8°C) | 44°/17°F (6.7°/-8.1°C) |
| Feb | 42°/29°F (5.3°/-1.7°C) | 46°/19°F (7.9°/-7.3°C) |
| Mar | 50°/35°F (9.8°/1.8°C) | 54°/26°F (12.4°/-3.1°C) |
| Apr | 61°/45°F (16.2°/7.1°C) | 62°/33°F (16.4°/0.7°C) |
| May | 71°/54°F (21.6°/12.2°C) | 71°/43°F (21.9°/5.9°C) |
| Jun | 79°/64°F (26.3°/17.6°C) | 82°/52°F (28.0°/11.3°C) |
| Jul | 84°/69°F (28.9°/20.4°C) | 89°/59°F (31.9°/14.9°C) |
| Aug | 83°/68°F (28.1°/19.9°C) | 87°/58°F (30.7°/14.4°C) |
| Sep | 75°/61°F (24.0°/16.0°C) | 78°/48°F (25.8°/9.1°C) |
| Oct | 64°/50°F (17.7°/10.0°C) | 65°/37°F (18.5°/2.6°C) |
| Nov | 54°/42°F (12.1°/5.3°C) | 52°/24°F (11.2°/-4.2°C) |
| Dec | 43°/32°F (6.1°/0.0°C) | 43°/17°F (6.0°/-8.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Colorado than New York?
Yes — Colorado is on average about 5% cheaper than New York. City-level variation can be significant.
How much money do I need to move to Colorado?
Plan for at least 3 months of living expenses — roughly $17,800 in Colorado on a $75,000 comparable salary — plus one-off moving costs (movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit).
Is Colorado safe?
New York performs better than Colorado across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Colorado compared to New York?
Colorado generally does better on health & wellbeing, though New York leads in uninsured rate.
What's the weather like in Colorado compared to New York?
The average high temperature in Denver is 65°F, compared to 62°F in New York City. Denver receives around 14.3 in of rainfall per year, while New York City gets 49.9 in.
