Moving to Colorado from Virginia
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Virginia to Colorado — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Virginia to Colorado, you would find that Colorado is 1.8% cheaper than Virginia. A $75,000 salary in Virginia would need to be roughly $74,818 in Colorado to maintain the same lifestyle.
How Far Will Your Money Go?
How your spending power changes when you relocate from Virginia to Colorado.
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $74,818
To maintain the same standard of living in Colorado
Calculate with your salary →The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 3.3% more
Groceries
pay 12.5% less
Transportation
pay 2.3% more
Housing
pay 9.5% more
Childcare
pay 23.9% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 2.8% 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 6% more than cities in Virginia.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Virginia 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
Virginia 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 Virginia leads in uninsured rate.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Virginia 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
Colorado performs significantly better than Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia 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 | Richmond | Denver |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 53°/32°F (12°/0°C) | 48°/21°F (9°/-6°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 78°/55°F (26°/13°C) | 72°/43°F (22°/6°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 86°/65°F (30°/19°C) | 85°/55°F (29°/13°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 61°/39°F (16°/4°C) | 53°/26°F (12°/-3°C) |
View all months
| Month | Richmond | Denver |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 47°/28°F (8.6°/-2.1°C) | 44°/17°F (6.7°/-8.1°C) |
| Feb | 51°/31°F (10.7°/-0.8°C) | 46°/19°F (7.9°/-7.3°C) |
| Mar | 60°/37°F (15.6°/2.8°C) | 54°/26°F (12.4°/-3.1°C) |
| Apr | 70°/46°F (21.3°/7.8°C) | 62°/33°F (16.4°/0.7°C) |
| May | 78°/55°F (25.5°/12.8°C) | 71°/43°F (21.9°/5.9°C) |
| Jun | 86°/65°F (30.1°/18.1°C) | 82°/52°F (28.0°/11.3°C) |
| Jul | 90°/69°F (32.1°/20.5°C) | 89°/59°F (31.9°/14.9°C) |
| Aug | 88°/67°F (30.9°/19.7°C) | 87°/58°F (30.7°/14.4°C) |
| Sep | 81°/60°F (27.3°/15.6°C) | 78°/48°F (25.8°/9.1°C) |
| Oct | 71°/48°F (21.7°/9.1°C) | 65°/37°F (18.5°/2.6°C) |
| Nov | 61°/39°F (16.3°/4.1°C) | 52°/24°F (11.2°/-4.2°C) |
| Dec | 51°/31°F (10.4°/-0.3°C) | 43°/17°F (6.0°/-8.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Colorado than Virginia?
Headline costs are within a few percent between Colorado and Virginia; rent and dining are where you'll actually feel differences.
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 $18,704 in Colorado for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Colorado safe?
Virginia performs better than Colorado across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Colorado compared to Virginia?
Colorado generally does better on health & wellbeing, though Virginia leads in uninsured rate.
What's the weather like in Colorado compared to Virginia?
The average high temperature in Denver is 65°F, compared to 70°F in Richmond. Denver receives around 14.3 in of rainfall per year, while Richmond gets 43.6 in.
