10 Reasons why Colorado’s 10-year Run of Growth Has Ended

10 Reasons People May Be Leaving Colorado

Ahh, Colorado. Do you still love it, or are you ready to leave it? Does it feel like people have been leaving Colorado more so than you’ve seen in quite a while? I’m not saying there are vacant houses everywhere, but the shift is palpable. It seems like that for forever the Front Range of Colorado was a beacon to Californians fleeing high real estate prices, Texans & Chicagoans fleeing high property taxes, and the heat or the cold, and midwesterners and northeasterners looking for that John Denver experience. Our sunshine, our mountains, our way of life have had a tendency to have people stampeding in like the cattle drives of the 1880s. But our recent 10-year stampede may be over.

I’ve been in Colorado most of my life. I grew up here and have lived here for the past 16 years consecutively. I hear the comparisons with how things are vs. how things used to be. For many, the Welcome to Colorful Colorado sign at our borders still plays an alluring song, but is it a siren song? For many residents who’ve seen their Colorado change, more and more people seem to be voicing their discontent–and leaving.

But enough with the feels and the metaphors, new data actually does suggest that more people are moving out of Colorado than into our state.

HireAHelper, an online moving service, analyzed over 90,000 moves that took place over 2021. In Colorado, 15% more people moved out of the state than into it over the year.

Based on a story from local news network KDVR in the spring of 2022, here are 10 factors that might contribute to people leaving Colorado:

1. As of earlier this spring, Denver is the seventh most expensive of the top 50 US metro areas, with a typical home sales price of $598,233. That puts us right behind four California locations, Seattle and Boston. Ouch. 
2. Denver ranks 13th for the percent its home prices have increased since 2000. 
3. Monthly rent prices are up in Colorado nearly 22% (21.95%) year over year. In 2021 a Denver one bedroom in the city costs nearly $2,100, 24th highest in the country. 
4. The cost of living in Colorado is 17% higher than the national average.
5. There are a record low number of homes available in the Denver metro area. That number has increased substantially since this report came out but in relative terms, there is still a general dearth of inventory. 
6. Denver housing is more unaffordable for middle class than nearly any US metro. Again, this puts Denver right behind four California cities, Seattle and Boston. 
7. Denver has the 10th fastest-rising rent over the last year
8. Colorado transportation costs are 6% higher than the national average.
9. Colorado has the highest car theft levels in the country, with a 32% increase over the last year. This one really stings. Number 1?! Only three of fourteen categories of crime fell year over year.
10. Violent crime increased by 52% in Colorado over the last 10 years. Except for 2019, violent crime has risen for the past ten years, not unlike the population. The total number of crimes has risen 72% since 2011. Another stat NOT to be be proud of. 

There are several others I could add to the honorable mention lists, so to speak. I've heard other reasons such as traffic, obsolete infrastructure, and changing political climate and social landscapes. 

Colorado, as the eighth largest state, also has cultural and political diversity by virtue of its vast geographic differences. The eastern plains differ from the Front Range just as the mountain communities differ from the Western Slope and Southern Colorado. Some would say that diversity is good for the state, but it also presents its own challenges.

What would you add to this list? Do you still love Colorado? Do you miss how it was 10 years ago? 20? 30? 50 years ago? Leave a comment below and tell me if you still love it or are ready to leave it, and why.

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