Cost of Living inDenver, CO, United States
Image credit: Birdseye View Publishing Co.; Denver Lith. Co.
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). United States: $75,489/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 24% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Income Category
Happiness
6.7 / 10
#22 globally
GDP per Capita
City Population
Monthly Costs
Rent
Food
Transport
Utilities
Education
Child Education
Public-school quality + expat access, alongside international and private school cost — the two paths a relocating family weighs.
Public schools
Public-schooling rules are set nationally for United States; Denver, CO-specific enrollment notes are still being verified.
Quality
Mixed public-school option
Expat access
Available to residents
conditionalInstruction
English
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
The United States has many excellent public schools, but quality varies sharply by district and neighborhood.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Resident families can use local public schools, but school quality depends heavily on district assignment and housing location.
🗺️ Homeschooling
Varies by stateHomeschooling is legal in all 50 US states but regulations vary dramatically. Some states (TX, AK, ID) have minimal oversight; others (NY, PA, MA) require notification, testing, and curriculum approval. Most worldschooling families establish residency in low-regulation states.
Homeschool legality in United States — check current regulations before committing.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
International & private schools
Childcare & Domestic Help
Current nanny and household-help pricing snapshot for Denver, CO, United States.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$2,950-$3,800
monthly · confidence 0.65
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$3,550-$4,600
monthly · confidence 0.65
Source: curated family relocation research
Getting Around
The concrete mobility picture for Denver: airport access, urban transit, and rideshare practicality.
Airport
Major mountain-West air hub
Denver International gives the metro one of the strongest domestic route maps in the US plus practical long-haul access for mountain-West family travel.
Urban transit
Light rail, commuter rail, and bus
RTD light rail, commuter rail, and buses make many central Denver and airport-connected trips workable without a car even though the broader metro still sprawls.
Rideshare
Uber and Lyft available
Ride-hailing is a routine complement for airport runs, winter-weather convenience, and cross-suburban trips beyond the strongest rail lines.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in United States.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
StrongHigh national coverage, strong doctor availability, and deep nursing capacity support this rating.
Public care
GoodBroad public coverage, relatively low patient cost-sharing, and country-level outcomes are comparatively strong support this rating.
Private care
GoodA clearly private facility base and visible specialty depth help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
88/100
2023
Physicians
3.68/1k
2022
Hospital beds
2.68/1k
2022
Out of pocket
11%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
78.9 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
17/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
3.7/1k
2024
International patient readiness
GoodA visible private hospital base and multiple facilities have websites help, but price transparency is still sparse.
Pricing transparency
LimitedMultiple facilities have crawlable websites help, but published self-pay prices are scarce.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in United States yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-06-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Information & Technology | $201,752/yr |
| Finance & Insurance | $161,093/yr |
| Professional & Scientific Services | $155,556/yr |
| Utilities | $150,128/yr |
| Manufacturing | $131,400/yr |
| Transport & Logistics | $123,784/yr |
| Mining & Quarrying | $121,498/yr |
| Healthcare & Social Work | $102,514/yr |
| Real Estate | $101,291/yr |
| Other Services | $99,947/yr |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | $97,050/yr |
| Education | $97,001/yr |
| Construction | $93,443/yr |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | $92,673/yr |
| Administrative & Support Services | $85,705/yr |
| Agriculture & Farming | $64,349/yr |
| Hospitality & Food Service | $50,792/yr |
2025 annual wages in Denver, CO, United States · Source: BLS OEWS (MSA-adjusted)
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Long-Term Visa Programs
investment
US EB-5 Immigrant Investor (Standard)Quick comparison FAQ
Structured from the deltas already shown on this page — no invented facts, no extra data sources.
How far does your money go in Denver compared with the US?
Your money goes about 1.6x further in Denver than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate.
Is Denver cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Denver is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 24% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Denver.
How does rent in Denver compare with New York City?
Rent in Denver is about 55% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City).
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Denver?
Groceries in Denver are about 15% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 23% cheaper than the same benchmark.
About Denver, CO
Denver sits at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, United States, at the namesake 5,280-foot elevation that earned it the Mile-High City nickname, with around 729,000 residents in the city and roughly 3 million across the metro. The economy spans federal employment (one of the largest federal workforces outside Washington), aerospace, telecom, energy, and a substantial cannabis sector. Relocators get a semi-arid climate with abundant sunshine, snowy winters, and dramatic temperature swings, plus light rail and commuter rail though car ownership remains effectively required outside the urban core. Housing costs have escalated sharply over the past decade though still trail coastal tech hubs. Outdoor access is the standout draw.
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