Denver, CO vs Oklahoma City, OK
Moving from Denver to Oklahoma City? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($573,221 → $246,872 median home) and taxes.
Denver vs Oklahoma City 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 Denver, CO, you'd need about $86,458 in Oklahoma City, OK (−$13,542).
Livability — Denver, CO: 52 · Oklahoma City, OK: 70 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,657 sqft in Denver vs 3,849 sqft in Oklahoma City ($302 vs $130 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Denver, CO | Oklahoma City, OK | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $22,920 | $16,788 | −$6,132 |
| Groceries | $5,079 | $4,667 | −$412 |
| Transportation | $4,050 | $3,575 | −$475 |
| Utilities | $1,788 | $1,440 | −$348 |
| Insurance | $2,800 | $4,400 | +$1,600 |
| Taxes | $9,828 | $9,841 | +$13 |
| Total | $46,464 | $40,711 | −$5,754 |
Side by side
| Metric | Denver, CO | Oklahoma City, OK |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 105.8 | 91.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.26% | 4.47% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.7% | 5.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 64 | 53 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.02 | $5.20 |
| Median home price | $573,221 | $246,872 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.9× | 3.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.9% | 1.0% |
| Price per square foot | $302 | $130 |
| Median rent | $1,910 | $1,399 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.7% | 9.0% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.77% | 8.99% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.40% | 4.75% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.99% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,300 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $9,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.79% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,800 | $4,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $550 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $300 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.5 | 13.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 2.95 |
| Violent crime /100k | 490 | 460 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 94 |
| Avg winter low °F | 18 | 27 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |