California vs Colorado

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in California is worth

$90,334

at national prices · RPP 110.7BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Colorado is worth

$96,993

at national prices · RPP 103.1BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$6,659 further in Colorado (+7.4% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

California: $100,000 ÷ (110.7 ÷ 100) = $90,334

Colorado: $100,000 ÷ (103.1 ÷ 100) = $96,993

difference: $96,993 − $90,334 = +$6,659

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	California	Colorado	Difference
All items	110.7	103.1	−6.9%
Housing rents	154.3	127.4	−17.4%
Goods	106.1	98.7	−7.0%
Utilities	158.9	85.0	−46.5%
Other services	102.6	99.6	−2.9%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

CaliforniaMedian rent$2,036/moMedian home$734,700

ColoradoMedian rent$1,761/moMedian home$539,400

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	California	Colorado
Income tax (top rate)	13.30%	4.40%
Sales tax (combined avg)	8.99%	7.89%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

California vs Colorado: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from California to Colorado and its purchasing power changes from $90,334 to $96,993 in national-average terms — a gain of $6,659. Colorado is the cheaper of the two, running at 103.1 on the price index versus 110.7.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is utilities: California sits at 158.9 and Colorado at 85 (100 = national). Colorado has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $2,036 in California against $1,761 in Colorado, and the typical home $734,700 versus $539,400. Colorado is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, California has 13.30% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 8.99%; Colorado has 4.40% top income tax and 7.89%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

Full profiles: California ·Colorado. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

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