COL in Denver Metro (Aurora, Center: apartments, rentals, car insurance)

[Prickly Pear]

Hey everyone,


I'm interviewing for a job in the Denver Metro area and I'm curious on what types of salaries I should be shooting for to have a decent life in the area. I will be targeting Denver along with a couple other cities in my attempts to relocate. The goal is to, on one income:


- Be able to afford my own apartment (1 bedroom, not a studio) as well as my own utilities/rent tax/internet without a roommate
- Live in a safe and decent part of Denver. It does not need to be luxurious, but needs to generally be safe.
- Have money left over to have some fun, save as well as groceries for one person


I have no debt.


Due to my job industry I will be most likely to need a commute with a car, rather than WFH or be able to use the RTD. Of course this is not a guarantee but this is just based on the fact of what types of places tend to hire people of my expertise.


For example I am interviewing for a job right now in Aurora, CO that allegedly (apparently Colorado passed a law requiring employers to post salaries in the job opportunities? That's awesome!) pays $23/hr which I'm worried is too low. Aurora I suspect is one of the cheaper cities in the Denver area due to the fact it's on the east side and further from the mountains but I may be wrong.


Thank you in advance!

[Therblig]

COL in the general Denver area (say, out here in Aurora) is relatively modest in most ways... except for housing. Decent rentals are exorbitant against general metro equivalents, and buying is both expensive and competitive.

Plan on $2k a month for a decent apartment in an area you'd want to live in... even a studio or 1BR. Seriously. So at $48k, about half will go to a roof.

Nothing else should be out of your budget range, or at least unexpected.

[vunderbar]

^^^ $2,000 a month for a 1 bedroom?

Sorry, but there ARE cheaper options in ”safe, decent” areas - even in Denver.

OP, Aurora is large, and commuting in the Denver area - that includes many parts of Aurora - is a pain. We could offer more help if you could tell us which parts of Aurora... it's a big, sprawling suburb and prices/commuting will vary greatly from area to area.

[Therblig]

Originally Posted by vunderbar

^^^ $2,000 a month for a 1 bedroom?

Sorry, but there ARE cheaper options in ”safe, decent” areas - even in Denver.

I'm sure there are, but having heard/read too many horror stories about the search, the battle to be accepted as a tenant, and the discovery that the apartment/house/neighborhood wasn't quite as nice as first thought... I understand you can get apartments for $1k in Manhattan now if you move like the Flash, have a rep like Clark Kent and the luck of Gambit.

OP, Aurora is large, and commuting in the Denver area - that includes many parts of Aurora - is a pain. We could offer more help if you could tell us which parts of Aurora... it's a big, sprawling suburb and prices/commuting will vary greatly from area to area.

I would concur; if you're young and you want the Denverite singles vibe, you don't want to be in any of the outlying cities, with Aurora at the bottom of the list. Very, very boring, spread out, and disconnected suburbia; you will feel like you're in Nebraska. And not the good parts.

Even the closer-in cities can be a bit isolated. Start your search in Denver proper and the immediately adjacent neighborhoods, and be willing to compromise a little on everything but net "safety." You will probably be more comfortable in a slightly downscale neighborhood close to all the good stuff than a "nice" place isolated from everything.

[davebarnes]

A sense of rental costs in Denver.
I live nearby and know someone who rents here.
https://www.renttennysonplace.com/de.../conventional/

[Norrov]

What industry are you in? 23/hr without overtime would be doable, but not fun in the Denver area. Half your take home would be going to rent. I’d look for a better offer.

Denver is generally safe, just don’t leave your bike outside

[Therblig]

Originally Posted by Norrov

What industry are you in? 23/hr without overtime would be doable, but not fun in the Denver area. Half your take home would be going to rent.

Although there's room to wrassle here, it's closer to half of gross, not take home.

$23 an hour is $48,000 gross, and about $37,500 take home for a single person, possibly less. I'll maintain that an acceptable apartment will run closer to that $2,000 than $1550 or so, with utilities and all other costs (parking? storage? community fees?) figured in.

But honestly, this is the world of most moderately well employed; the jobs are in high COL areas and half your pelf going to housing is about average.

[Therblig]

The other COL item here that tends to get overlooked is car insurance — among the highest in the US. I pay some $1500 a year for a combination of factors that should reasonably put my bill closer to $5-600. A big part of that is really, really screwed up uninsured motorist laws.

[Pahn]

Originally Posted by Therblig

A big part of that is really, really screwed up uninsured motorist laws.

No-fault car insurance needs to be the law of the land. Why should your insurance status affect me in any way? My insurance should cover my vehicle and liability, and your insurance should cover yours. If you don't have insurance? Entirely your problem.

[bluescreen73]

OP where in Aurora is the job? The city is huge. It sits in 3 counties, but most of the city is in Arapahoe County. For example, commuting from Downtown Denver to the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Northeast Aurora would suck. Your commute would be 100% car-dependent, and it will take ~30 mins to get to work.

Yes Aurora is cheaper because it's further from the mountains. It also has a long-held, racially-based false narrative of being completely sketchy. A lot of uninformed clowns (mostly white) who've never lived in Aurora will freely tell you how "bad" Aurora is (because *gasp* minorities live here). It has its bad areas (mostly in the northwest corner of the city), but overall it's a perfectly fine place to live. As others have already pointed out, it's not exactly a happening place for night life.

Originally Posted by Therblig

The other COL item here that tends to get overlooked is car insurance — among the highest in the US. I pay some $1500 a year for a combination of factors that should reasonably put my bill closer to $5-600. A big part of that is really, really screwed up uninsured motorist laws.

Reasonably sure hail claims play a pretty big role in high premiums for both auto and homeowner's insurance along the Front Range.