Pros and Cons of Living in Colorado in 2026: The Honest Truth From a Local

Living in Colorado is amazing. It's also going to cost you more than you think, in places you're not expecting.

I live in Longmont with my wife and my 2 kids, and I help people move to Northern Colorado from all over the country. I'm not here to sell you on Colorado. I'm here to tell you what it's really like, pros and cons, compared to where you're coming from, so you can decide if it's right for you.

If you'd rather watch it, I filmed the whole thing.

Quick answer

Colorado is a great place to live if you want to be outside, but it is not cheap. The typical single-family home in Longmont has sold for about $606,000 this year (IRES MLS, January to August 2026), compared with about $330,000 in the Midwest and about $360,000 in the South (National Association of Realtors, September 2026). Homeowners insurance averages about $4,000 a year here, about a third above the national average, and about half of a Front Range premium is for hail. The pros are real: sunshine, the outdoors, and low taxes. Plan for the costs before you move and the lifestyle is worth it.

The pros and cons at a glance

Pro: the weather

If you're coming from the Midwest like I did, you know the snow shows up in November and sits there until March. Here on the Front Range, it snows, the sun comes back out, and a couple of days later it's gone.

In the summer I can push-mow my lawn at 92 degrees and barely break a sweat, because there's almost no humidity. Colorado is a comfortable place to live, and because of that you naturally live a more active life and spend more time outside.

Con: hail and homeowners insurance

We live in what people call Hail Alley, and you pay for it every year in your homeowners insurance.

Colorado homeowners pay about $4,000 a year on average now, about a third more than the national average (Insurify, 2026). About half of what we pay here on the Front Range covers hail risk, whether it ever hails on your house or not (Colorado Division of Insurance, February 2026).

Before you make an offer:

1. Get a real insurance quote on the actual address. Text me the address and I'll get you a reliable one.
2. Ask how old the roof is.
3. Ask whether it has Class 4 impact-resistant shingles. If it does, that brings your premium down every month.

Pro: the outdoors

This is the reason I moved here, and it's why most people do.

What people pay thousands of dollars to come do on vacation, we get to do on a weekend. In Longmont, I've got McIntosh Lake and Union Reservoir right in town. Lyons is right up the road, and that's your way into Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.

You have access to winter sports, hiking, mountain biking, fishing, hunting, white water rafting and camping, and I could keep going. Your Colorado self is going to be a different person. You'll pick up hobbies you never had.

Con: I-70 traffic

Everybody wants to go to the mountains on the same Saturday. If you're heading to the ski resorts on a weekend, plan on sitting in traffic both ways. Coming home Sunday afternoon can turn a 2-hour drive into 4.

The locals' trick is simple. Leave early, come home late, or go on a weekday.

I broke down the real drive times from Longmont, including the ski resorts, here: How Far Is Longmont From Denver, DIA and the Mountains?

Con: construction

This one is going to be with us for a while. Up here in Northern Colorado, I-25 has been under construction for years, and the stretch between Mead and Berthoud isn't scheduled to be done until 2028. On I-70, the Floyd Hill project on the way into the mountains runs into 2029 (CDOT).

It's not just the highways. Some parts of town have had a lot of apartments go up in a short time. That means more cars on the same roads.

So if you're going to commute, drive that route at rush hour before you buy a house. Not on a Sunday afternoon. And ask me what's planned around a neighborhood before you fall in love with it. Location is the one thing you can't change.

Pro: raising kids here

If you have kids, they get to grow up outside: hiking, biking, the lakes, sledding and skiing, and most of it is close to home. That's a big reason we stayed.

Here's something a lot of people moving here don't know. Colorado has open enrollment. You can apply to send your kids to a school outside your neighborhood boundary, even in another district. Look at the schools for yourself, and don't assume the house decides it for you.

Con: the gear and the passes

The gear adds up fast. Skis, boots, helmets, snow pants, jackets and bikes, and kids outgrow all of it every year.

Then there are the passes. An Epic Pass this season is about $1,100 for an adult and about $550 for a kid. A family of 4 is over $3,000 before anybody buys a pair of boots.

The trick: if your kids are in kindergarten through 6th grade, get the Colorado Kids Ski Passport. It's $76 for the whole season and gets them 4 days at each of 19 ski areas across Colorado (Colorado Ski Country USA). Hit the ski swaps in the fall for used gear too.

Pro: taxes

Colorado's state income tax is a flat 4.4%. The state sales tax is 2.9%, the lowest of any state that has one, and groceries aren't taxed by the state. Property taxes are low compared to most of the country. On a $600,000 home, you're looking at roughly $3,000 a year (Tax Foundation, 2026).

If you're coming from Texas or Illinois, that one feels pretty good. I'm a Realtor, not a CPA, so run your own situation with a tax pro. If you're coming from Texas, I did the full math here: Moving From Texas to Colorado in 2026: The Real Numbers.

Con: your car

This is the one almost nobody budgets for.

Every year you register a vehicle in Colorado, you pay an ownership tax based on what the car cost brand new. On a car that stickered at $35,000, that's about $625 the first year, on top of your registration fees. A newer truck or SUV is more, and it drops every year as the car gets older.

Car insurance runs a bit higher here than most of the country too. And you have 90 days after you move here to register your car. I found that out the hard way. I took a trip, and when I got back to the parking lot there was a ticket on my windshield.

Con: the cost of living

This is the biggest con on the list, and it really comes down to housing.

If you're coming from the Midwest, the typical home there sells for about $330,000. In the South, about $360,000. Here in Longmont, the typical single-family home this year has been about $606,000. That's almost double what a lot of people are used to paying.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Colorado is expensive. But here's how you soften it.

Northern Colorado has a huge range of prices.

Source: IRES MLS, single-family, January to August 2026.

Same mountains on the horizon, very different price tags. If you need the mountains every day after work, you'll pay more on the west side of I-25. If you're a weekend mountain person, go east of I-25, get more house for your money, and still be at the trailhead Saturday morning.

Buyers have room to negotiate again. Seller concessions are back, and they're something you won't see on the Zillow listing. A concession is basically money from the seller you can use for closing costs, repairs, or to buy down your interest rate. My clients Dustin and Tiffiney just bought in Mead. The numbers were tight, and we still got the seller to pay $15,000 toward a rate buydown, which dropped their payment by about $450 a month during the buydown.

Past results don't guarantee future outcomes. Ask your lender how seller concessions can work on your loan.

So is Colorado worth it?

Colorado gives you the sunshine, the mountains, and a life outside. And it charges you for it in housing, insurance, your car, and your patience on I-70.

If you want the cheapest place to live, this isn't it. But if you want that lifestyle and you plan for the costs, I wouldn't live anywhere else. And trust me, we tried.

Thinking about the move?

Call or text me at (720)741-7474, or book a time with me. I'll help you pick the right town, run the real numbers, and take that stress off your shoulders.

Sources: IRES MLS single-family, January to August 2026; National Association of Realtors, September 2026; Insurify via the Colorado Sun, 2026; Colorado Division of Insurance, February 2026; CDOT, 2026; Freeskier (Epic Pass 2026/27); Colorado Ski Country USA (Kids Ski Passport 2026/27); Tax Foundation, 2026; Colorado Revised Statutes 42-3-106 (vehicle ownership tax). Not tax or insurance advice.

Noah Inhofer · eXp Realty
9800 Pyramid Ct, Suite 400, Englewood, CO 80112
Equal Housing Opportunity