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Tag: Cost of Living

The Mile High price tag: Denver now among worst in U.S. for inflation
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Approved, Local, Westword

The Mile High price tag: Denver now among worst in U.S. for inflation

By Catie Cheshire | Westword One study found prices in Denver have spiked significantly in the last two months, outpacing Los Angeles, New York and even Honolulu. Denver has a highly ranked park system and was recently named one of the coolest cities in the country, but living around the Mile High City isn't cheap. According to a new study by WalletHub, the Denver metro has the fifth-worst inflation problem in the United States, with costs rising on a monthly and yearly basis. WalletHub analyzed inflation impacts in 23 major metropolitan areas for the study, lumping together Denver, Aurora and Lakewood. In metro Denver, the change in Consumer Price Index compared to two months ago is 1 percent and the change over the last year is 2.2 percent, WalletHub research s...
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Colorado ranks 5th in nation for work hours—high cost of living a key factor
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Colorado ranks 5th in nation for work hours—high cost of living a key factor

By Brooke Williams | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — Coloradans spend more time on the clock than people in most states in the U.S., according to a new report. Qualtrics XM, a data tool for businesses, released a report in March analyzing what percentage of the past year people spent working. The study used data from the American Time Use Survey, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for all 50 states. A handful of states had fewer than 10 survey responses and were excluded from the main story, but were included in a separate list. Where do people spend the most time working? According to the report, people in these states spent the highest percentage of their past year working: Utah: 25.17% Mississippi: 23.89% North Carolina: 23.51% Alabama: 23.44% Co...
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Gazette editorial board: Colorado’s green agenda is pricing out homeowners
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Approved, Commentary, denvergazette.com, State

Gazette editorial board: Colorado’s green agenda is pricing out homeowners

The Gazette editorial board | Denver Gazette Colorado’s governor and Legislature may claim they want more affordable housing — but they aren’t about to let it stand in the way of their headlong rush toward green energy. Their zero-emissions-at-any-cost dogma seems to trump all other policy priorities. Which helps explain why the state’s Energy Code Board is poised to impose extreme energy standards — even more stringent than those already in effect — on new home construction. The pending rules would turn the screws on wide-ranging aspects of the building code — and are projected to add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home in Colorado. That’s right — it’ll add $25,000 to $35,000, by one estimate, in what is already the most expensive state for housing that is not ...
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Denver’s not just going to the dogs—it’s leaving children behind
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Denver’s not just going to the dogs—it’s leaving children behind

By Thomas Mitchell | Westword About 50 percent of this city's residents have a dog. Only 20 percent have children under eighteen. Denver is no longer a cowtown. It's a dog city. Long known as a hub for livestock, Denver has corraled several more amenities over the years. Outdoor sports, craft beer, legal weed, live music and a wave of tech jobs have attracted travelers and transplants alike. But those who stay in this city must acknowledge its four-legged rulers, whether you own one or not. Around 50 percent of Denver's residents have a dog, with 68 percent reporting that they own at least one pet, according to a 2024 survey by the Colorado Polling Institute. In the same poll, just 20 percent of Denver residents said they had children under eighteen. Population n...
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Cole: Illegal driving, rising costs, and scarce patrols—welcome to Denver’s roads
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Approved, Commentary, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

Cole: Illegal driving, rising costs, and scarce patrols—welcome to Denver’s roads

By Shaina Cole | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Each afternoon, my three-mile commute home in Denver’s metro area is a nerve-wrecking ordeal. Drivers speed through stop signs, ignore red lights, or stop inexplicably at unmarked intersections. Cars swerve across lanes, straddle the center line, or disrupt four-way stops.  Vehicles without plates, with expired tags, or overdue permits are all too common.  As a single-income earner with only liability insurance, I dread a crash with an uninsured driver.  One accident could destroy my car—my lifeline to work and rent.  Since 2020, Denver’s roads have descended into chaos. I believe the combination of unenforced traffic laws, a 25% rise in undocumented immigration, and soaring cost of living fuels this...
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O’Donnell: It’s costly to live in Colorado—and now we top the charts in personal debt
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Approved, Commentary, National, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

O’Donnell: It’s costly to live in Colorado—and now we top the charts in personal debt

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Since 2021, inflation has been higher in Colorado than in any other state, mostly because of the cost of owning or renting a home. But this is also because the state legislature enjoys imposing new fees (you aren’t allowed to call them taxes) on seemingly anything they can think of. Colorado residents may not, however, realize that because it is now so expensive to live in the state, Coloradans owe more money in mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, student loans and other consumer obligations than residents of ANY other state. The latest data from the Consumer Credit Panel at the New York Federal Reserve indicates that during the fourth quarter of 2024, the 4,983,560 households in Colorado EACH owed an average of $90,540 i...
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Colorado families pay 19% more than the national average for groceries
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Colorado families pay 19% more than the national average for groceries

By Spencer Kristensen | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — It is a high priority for most U.S. residents and affects the likes of every person in the country, regardless of age — grocery prices. The issue is so pressing that politicians can single-handedly run a campaign on the hot topic. Groceries are essential to single people and families alike, and have a great impact on day-to-day living, and geography can play a large part in determining prices for local goods. Lending Tree, an online lending marketplace, performed a study on how much each state is spending on groceries per year. Lending Tree said researchers compared retail prices provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the weeks ending Jan. 26, 2024, and Jan. 31, 2025, for the 68 fruit and vegetable items that had pric...
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Here’s how much more expensive Denver has become since 2020
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Here’s how much more expensive Denver has become since 2020

By Catie Cheshire | Westword Residents across Denver’s neighborhoods are worried about the cost of living in the Mile High City, particularly related to the rising price of homes and rent. A recent study from travel-and-finance website Upgraded Points shows that they aren't imagining things: It's more expensive to live in Denver now than it was four years ago. According to the study, assorted items in Denver cost 21.5 percent more than they did in 2020, with housing costs driving a large part of the increase. Housing is 25.2 percent higher than it was in 2020, while groceries cost 17.9 percent more than they did four years ago. During the same time period, wages grew by just 16.9 percent — so Denver’s pocketbooks aren’t keeping up with what it costs to live ...
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More than one-third of Colorado households endure financial hardship, report shows
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More than one-third of Colorado households endure financial hardship, report shows

By Debbie Kelley | The Gazette A new report being released Wednesday from United Way Colorado and Ent Credit Union shows 37% of residents statewide and 34% in El Paso County are not earning enough to cover basic expenses such as housing, health care, transportation, food, child care and a rudimentary smartphone plan. Nearly 870,000 households out of about 2.4 million statewide were studied, more than two-thirds of which contain wage earners working in retail, food service, grocery, education, health care, law enforcement, firefighting, lodging, cleaning and other sectors. A national research organization and grassroots movement that United Way of Northern New Jersey started as United for ALICE, which is an acronym for “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed,” develo...
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Social Security payments will be affected soon by a cost of living change
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Approved, National, The Street

Social Security payments will be affected soon by a cost of living change

By Caitlin Cahalan | The Street Sixty-eight million Americans receive Social Security Insurance (SSI) payments each month, and most retirees (58%) note that Social Security is a significant source of income in retirement. Therefore, it is crucial that these payments cover basic expenses, especially during times of stubborn inflation. The federal government provides a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to ensure that the purchasing power of Social Security payments isn’t diminished by inflation and the rising cost of living. The past few years of consistent inflation have prompted the Social Security Administration to seriously reevaluate the current COLA. While the COLA is adjusted annually, years of sustained inflation typically prompt higher adjustments. READ THE FULL STORY AT...
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