Austin, TX vs Boulder, CO
Moving from Austin to Boulder? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($428,524 → $727,954 median home) and taxes.
Austin vs Boulder at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Austin, TX, you'd need about $102,379 in Boulder, CO (+$2,379).
Livability — Austin, TX: 70 · Boulder, CO: 54 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,450 sqft in Austin vs 1,305 sqft in Boulder ($204 vs $383 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Austin, TX | Boulder, CO | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,620 | $27,084 | +$7,464 |
| Groceries | $4,647 | $4,814 | +$167 |
| Transportation | $3,675 | $4,050 | +$375 |
| Utilities | $1,836 | $1,788 | −$48 |
| Insurance | $3,600 | $2,800 | −$800 |
| Taxes | $9,558 | $10,679 | +$1,121 |
| Total | $42,936 | $51,214 | +$8,279 |
Side by side
| Metric | Austin, TX | Boulder, CO |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.3 | 100.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.30% | 4.41% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 14.8% | 3.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.59 | $5.72 |
| Median home price | $428,524 | $727,954 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.6× | 7.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -6.0% | -2.6% |
| Price per square foot | $204 | $383 |
| Median rent | $1,635 | $2,257 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.6% | 9.7% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.20% | 7.77% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 4.40% |
| Property tax rate | 1.71% | 0.53% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,500 | $16,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 1.79% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $3,600 | $2,800 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,100 | $2,000 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $550 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.0 | 16.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.00 | 3.30 |
| Natural gas / mo | $52 | $65 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $134 | $120 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $87 |
| Violent crime /100k | 430 | 490 |
| Avg summer high °F | 96 | 88 |
| Avg winter low °F | 38 | 18 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 36.3 | 15.4 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.2 | 49.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 60% | 69% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |