Moving to Colorado from Texas
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Texas to Colorado — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Texas to Colorado, you would find that Colorado is 11.8% more expensive than Texas. A $75,000 salary in Texas would need to be roughly $88,804 in Colorado to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Denver averages 65°F vs 79°F in Austin, making it significantly cooler.
How Far Will Your Money Go?
How your spending power changes when you relocate from Texas to Colorado.
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $88,804
To maintain the same standard of living in Colorado
Calculate with your salary →The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 10.2% more
Groceries
pay 11.2% more
Transportation
pay 9.3% more
Housing
pay 20.1% more
Childcare
pay 9.6% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 16.2% 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 19% more than cities in Texas.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Texas 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
Texas 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 Texas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Texas 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 Texas 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 performs significantly better than Texas 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 Texas 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 | Austin | Denver |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 65°/40°F (18°/5°C) | 48°/21°F (9°/-6°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 85°/63°F (29°/17°C) | 72°/43°F (22°/6°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 93°/70°F (34°/21°C) | 85°/55°F (29°/13°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 71°/47°F (22°/8°C) | 53°/26°F (12°/-3°C) |
View all months
| Month | Austin | Denver |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 61°/37°F (15.9°/2.9°C) | 44°/17°F (6.7°/-8.1°C) |
| Feb | 64°/39°F (17.6°/3.8°C) | 46°/19°F (7.9°/-7.3°C) |
| Mar | 71°/45°F (21.6°/7.4°C) | 54°/26°F (12.4°/-3.1°C) |
| Apr | 79°/55°F (25.9°/12.8°C) | 62°/33°F (16.4°/0.7°C) |
| May | 85°/64°F (29.7°/17.7°C) | 71°/43°F (21.9°/5.9°C) |
| Jun | 91°/70°F (32.8°/21.0°C) | 82°/52°F (28.0°/11.3°C) |
| Jul | 94°/72°F (34.7°/22.3°C) | 89°/59°F (31.9°/14.9°C) |
| Aug | 96°/72°F (35.4°/22.1°C) | 87°/58°F (30.7°/14.4°C) |
| Sep | 90°/67°F (32.3°/19.2°C) | 78°/48°F (25.8°/9.1°C) |
| Oct | 81°/57°F (27.3°/13.7°C) | 65°/37°F (18.5°/2.6°C) |
| Nov | 71°/47°F (21.4°/8.4°C) | 52°/24°F (11.2°/-4.2°C) |
| Dec | 62°/38°F (16.5°/3.4°C) | 43°/17°F (6.0°/-8.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Colorado than Texas?
Day-to-day costs in Colorado run about 18% higher than Texas 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 $22,201 in Colorado for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Colorado safe?
Texas performs better than Colorado across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Colorado compared to Texas?
Colorado performs significantly better than Texas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Colorado compared to Texas?
The average high temperature in Denver is 65°F, compared to 79°F in Austin. Denver receives around 14.3 in of rainfall per year, while Austin gets 36.2 in.
