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These days, homeownership feels out of reach for many. That’s particularly the case in the Denver area, where single-family homes go for a median of $650,000 — and even the meth-contaminated ones are higher than $400,000.
But buying a home isn’t so unaffordable in every part of the state.
SmartAsset analyzed Colorado cities with populations of 5,000 or greater, measuring the total cost of owning a home against each city’s median household income. The study considered average closing costs, property taxes, homeowner’s insurance and annual mortgage rates across five years for its calculations.
Here are the ten places where total housing costs are the smallest compared to income:
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10. Trinidad
Annual housing costs: $19,625
Median income: $54,788
Trinidad is a small town near the central southern border of Colorado with a population of approximately 8,300. It has the lowest median income on this list, but it makes up for it with its minuscule average annual property tax rate of $534.
The City of Trinidad via Facebook
9. Highlands Ranch
Annual housing costs: $59,308
Median income: $166,501
Highlands Ranch is a suburb in Douglas County, located twelve miles south of Denver, with a population of over 103,000. It has the highest average annual mortgage payment on this list at $52,566, but it enjoys comparatively low homeowner’s insurance costs.
8. Brush
Annual housing costs: $26,456
Median income: $74,144
Brush is a tiny, three-square-mile city in Morgan County near Fort Morgan, with a population of only 5,300. It has the most expensive annual homeowner’s insurance costs on this list at $3,654.
7. Roxborough Park
Annual housing costs: $59,162
Median income: $167,874
Roxborough Park is another Douglas County town of around 9,400 people. It is the most affluent community on this list, enjoying the highest median income, in addition to the highest average annual property tax rate of $4,637.
6. Pueblo West
Annual housing costs: $32,854
Median income: $95,419
Pueblo West is a community of 33,000 located seven miles west of Pueblo. Its median income, property tax, homeowner’s insurance and mortgage costs all fall in the center of the communities of this list.
Pueblo West Metropolitan District via Facebook
5. Frederick
Annual housing costs: $40,159
Median income: $120,172
Frederick is a Front Range town in Weld County located thirty miles north of Denver, with a population of 14,500. Its average annual homeowner’s insurance cost is just $2,511, the second-lowest on this list, beaten only by number three.
4. Johnstown
Annual housing costs: $41,739
Median income: $132,320
Located in Weld and Larimer counties between Loveland and Greeley, Johnstown has a population of 17,300. It has the third-highest median income, average annual property tax and average annual mortgage payment, placing behind only Highlands Ranch and Roxborough Park in all three categories.
3. Craig
Annual housing costs: $22,646
Median income: $73,649
Craig is a five-square-mile city of 9,000 people in Moffat County in northwest Colorado. It has the cheapest average annual homeowner’s insurance costs on this list at $1,370.
2. Lamar
Annual housing costs: $16,318
Median income: $62,729
Lamar is a five-square-mile city of 7,700 people in Prowers County in southeast Colorado. It has the lowest average annual property tax rate on this list at $485.
1. La Junta
Annual housing costs: $14,506
Median income: $60,072
In first place is La Junta, a three-square-mile town in the Arkansas River Valley with a population of 7,300. It has the lowest average annual mortgage payment on this list at $10,476.
Visit La Junta via Facebook
