Fort Collins, Colorado Cost Of Living

D

11%

Overall NAT. AVG.

2%

Goods & Services NAT. AVG.

44%

Housing NAT. AVG.

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2023; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Fort Collins	Colorado	National
Cost of living	111	109	100
Goods & Services	98	101	100
Groceries	104	97	100
Health care	97	97	100
Housing	144	134	100
Transportation	98	102	100
Utilities	80	91	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Fort Collins is 1% higher than the Colorado average
The cost of living in Fort Collins is 11% higher than the national average
Fort Collins housing is 44% higher than the national average
Colorado general sales tax is 43% lower than the national average
Colorado state income tax is 95% higher than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$100,013	$8,334	$2,333	$3,001
Renters	$44,019	$3,668	$1,027	$1,321

The affordability of the housing market in Fort Collins, CO as well as the overall cost of living can be predicted by what percent of the monthly income is spent on housing related costs. This is konwn as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The overall rule of thumb is that no more than 28% of your gross income should be spent on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among Fort Collins homeowners, the median income is $100,013. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $2,333 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $44,019. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $1,027 for their rent related monthly costs.

Colorado Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Colorado	2.9%	10%

Colorado Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Colorado	4.4%	4.4%

Goods & Services

Item	Fort Collins	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$28.04	$22.08	27.0%
Beauty Salon	$31.79	$42.88	25.9%
Toothpaste	$2.40	$2.57	6.4%
Shampoo	$0.99	$1.15	14.2%
Movie	$9.48	$11.51	17.6%
Bowling	$14.33	$16.62	13.7%

Groceries

Item	Fort Collins	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$5.31	$4.98	6.6%
Fried Chicken	$1.63	$1.58	2.9%
Milk	$2.47	$2.42	2.1%
Potatoes	$3.22	$3.54	8.9%
Pizza	$11.14	$11.49	3.0%
Beer	$10.43	$10.04	3.8%

Health Care

Item	Fort Collins	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$163.41	$117.76	38.8%
Doctor	$120.40	$125.34	3.9%
Dentist	$104.81	$107.52	2.5%
Ibuprofen	$10.29	$10.26	0.3%
Lipitor	$381.69	$459.24	16.9%

Housing

Item	Fort Collins	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$398,800.00	$184,700.00	115.9%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,697.62	$1,697.41	0.0%
Apartment Rent	$1,373.00	$949.00	44.7%

Transportation

Item	Fort Collins	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.89	$3.85	1.1%
Tire Balancing	$53.27	$57.01	6.6%

Utilities

Item	Fort Collins	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$123.58	$177.27	30.3%
Phone	$177.57	$189.62	6.4%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Loveland, CO	81,774	102	2.5%
Laporte, CO	2,299	105	4.8%
Wellington, CO	8,651	106	5.7%
Severance, CO	5,611	108	7.8%
Windsor, CO	23,679	115	14.7%
Fort Collins, CO	166,069	111	10.6%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Greater Sudbury, ON	165,562	n/a
Springfield, MO	167,601	83	16.7%
Corona, CA	168,112	138	37.8%
Jackson, MS	163,778	80	20.0%
Cary, NC	169,177	112	12.5%
Fort Collins, CO	166,069	111	10.6%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2023; this is the most current data available.