Fort Collins, CO vs Orlando, FL
Moving from Fort Collins to Orlando? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($556,500 → $387,733 median home) and taxes.
Fort Collins vs Orlando 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 $104,400 in Orlando, FL (+$4,400).
Livability — Fort Collins, CO: 59 · Orlando, FL: 66 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,707 sqft in Fort Collins vs 2,385 sqft in Orlando ($293 vs $210 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Fort Collins, CO | Orlando, FL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,136 | $23,724 | +$588 |
| Groceries | $4,814 | $4,813 | −$1 |
| Transportation | $4,050 | $4,800 | +$750 |
| Utilities | $1,788 | $1,656 | −$132 |
| Insurance | $2,800 | $4,200 | +$1,400 |
| Taxes | $9,647 | $4,915 | −$4,731 |
| Total | $46,234 | $44,108 | −$2,126 |
Side by side
| Metric | Fort Collins, CO | Orlando, FL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 97.3 | 101.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.57% | 5.26% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 8.6% | 12.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 54 | 44 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.54 | $5.78 |
| Median home price | $556,500 | $387,733 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.4× | 5.4× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.5% | -3.1% |
| Price per square foot | $293 | $210 |
| Median rent | $1,928 | $1,977 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.7% | 9.1% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.77% | 7.02% |
| Capital gains tax | 4.40% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.80% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $7,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $10,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.79% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 29 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,800 | $4,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,000 | $2,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $550 | $1,400 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.5 | 15.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 3.35 |
| Violent crime /100k | 490 | 380 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 18 | 52 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 3 |