Fort Collins, CO vs Columbus, OH
Moving from Fort Collins to Columbus? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($556,500 → $333,537 median home) and taxes.
Fort Collins vs Columbus 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 Fort Collins, CO, you'd need about $97,248 in Columbus, OH (−$2,752).
Livability — Fort Collins, CO: 59 · Columbus, OH: 69 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,707 sqft in Fort Collins vs 2,474 sqft in Columbus ($293 vs $202 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Fort Collins, CO | Columbus, OH | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,136 | $18,288 | −$4,848 |
| Groceries | $4,814 | $4,706 | −$108 |
| Transportation | $4,050 | $3,025 | −$1,025 |
| Utilities | $1,788 | $2,100 | +$312 |
| Insurance | $2,800 | $1,300 | −$1,500 |
| Taxes | $9,647 | $9,711 | +$65 |
| Total | $46,234 | $39,130 | −$7,104 |
Side by side
| Metric | Fort Collins, CO | Columbus, OH |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.3 | 94.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.57% | 4.20% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 8.6% | 5.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.54 | $5.38 |
| Median home price | $556,500 | $333,537 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.4× | 4.4× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.5% | 1.2% |
| Price per square foot | $293 | $202 |
| Median rent | $1,928 | $1,524 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.7% | 10.0% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.77% | 7.24% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.40% | 3.50% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 1.46% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,400 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.79% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 24 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,800 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,000 | $1,300 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $550 | $600 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.5 | 19.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 3.25 |
| Natural gas / mo | $65 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $120 | $104 |
| Home internet / mo | $87 | $76 |
| Violent crime /100k | 490 | 300 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 85 |
| Avg winter low °F | 18 | 20 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 15.4 | 41.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 49.0 | 28.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 69% | 50% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 2 |