Cost of Living in Denver

Some very useful info here. Most of which makes sense to me. Keep in mind folks, Denver is surrounded by jurisdictions (cities) that are not listed in the "nearby cities". These suburbs are generally 50%-70% homeowners who have higher incomes. Given this, $5000 - $6000 / month after tax fits right into other demographic models. Yes folks, lot's of people do make this much money per month. And half of them make more than that.

This said, I definitely agree with the comments below about some missing info. Insurance (health, auto, life) is an important missing cost of living. Tax and tip on food can be a large impact. Not sure of this is correctly entered in "restaurants" vs "markets".

I'm curious if there is a general definition of "city centre" for cost of housing. I'm in Estonia right now and their definition of city center is different than my Denver definition. I understand that "it depends" across ~400 cities around the world. But it would be good to have a bit more definition around this highest single monthly cost for most people.

It might be useful to add household income vs individual income. Similar to the "meal for 2" or monthly costs for a "family of four" estimated at the top. I suspect this would tie back to the "local purchasing power index" shown on your index pages. https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_current.jsp

The average income after tax is absolutely not even close to this. $5600?!?! AFTER TAX? Plus health insurance is nearly that entire months income PLUS premiums. Cut to the chase. Everything is too expensive and no one has enough money to survive.

Almost all of the prices are missing tax and tip. Needs to be way way larger for Americans to include that in the prices. A beer in a Denver bar is more realistically $10 after tax and tip. The absolute cheapest stuff a dive bar will serve might be $6 after tax and tip, but a regular bar for a regular local beer? No way.

$70 for a three course meal for two in a mid range restaurant? No way! A glass of wine is $7-$10, a salad or soup $6-$8, a main $12-$17, a desert $6-$10. That is $31 to $45 per person, $61 to $90 per two person, making $90 to $120 after tax and gratuity.

Bump all prices by 8-10% tax, then bump all services (restaurants, taxis, ...) by 20% gratuity. This isn’t Europe. The price on the tag isn’t what you will pay.

Also, note that the same European vs American problem is happening on houses. 10.7 square foot are not 1 square meter. The US way of measuring the size of a home includes even the exterior walls. The European way includes only net heated interior living space, so from wall surface to wall surface of rooms you live in. Not stair cases. Not porches or attics or basements. For an apartment, about 80% or external dimensions are typically the livable space. So realistically, 1 m^2 is equivalent to 13 sqft.