AnswerIn Denver, the median household income is $91,681. To rank in the top 20%, you need to earn more than $184,290. Top 5%: $476,000.
Median: $91,681 · Top 20%: $184,290 · Top 5%: $476,000
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-Year Estimates
Denver income percentile [2026]
Where Denver, Coloradohouseholds rank by income — sourced from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates, covering roughly 713,734 residents.
In Denver, CO, the median household income is $91,681. The bottom 20% earns under $38,281; the top 20% threshold is $184,290; the top 5% starts at $476,000. Median rent is $1,770/month and the median home value is $586,700. A $100,000 household income ranks at roughly the 53th percentile locally.
Key stats for Denver
Income percentile breakpoints
- 20th percentile (bottom quintile)
- $38,281
- 40th percentile
- $72,390
- Median (≈ 50th–60th percentile)
- $114,693
- 80th percentile (top 20%)
- $184,290
- 95th percentile (top 5%) — estimated
- $476,000
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-Year Estimates. City-level p60 is used as the “median-ish” row because ACS quintile upper limits bracket the household median near p60 for most big US cities. The Census Bureau top-codes its top-5% figure at $250,001 for high-income cities, so the 95th-percentile value here is estimated by fitting a Pareto tail to Denver's lower (un-top-coded) quintile breakpoints. Treat it as a modeled upper-tail benchmark, not a published ACS figure.
Local economic context
Denver spent the 2010s transforming from an energy-and-aerospace town into a genuine tech and lifestyle-migration magnet, and its income distribution rose with it. Aerospace is the deep bench — Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace, and United Launch Alliance anchor a defense-and-space cluster along the Front Range — alongside a telecom legacy (Lumen, Dish Network) and Arrow Electronics. The newer story is in-migration: Palantir relocated its headquarters to Denver, Google built out in nearby Boulder, and a steady stream of remote and relocating tech workers (many from the Bay Area) lifted wages and, more dramatically, home prices. Healthcare and a large federal footprint round out the top quartile. Colorado's flat 4.4% state income tax (reduced from 4.55%) is modest by coastal standards, which is part of the relocation pitch. Housing is the variable that caught up fastest: the metro median home runs around $550K–$650K, and a 3BR in a desirable neighborhood — Wash Park, the Highlands, Cherry Creek-adjacent — clears $650K–$900K, with the close-in foothills suburbs (Boulder especially) far higher. The 2020–2022 run-up was severe and the 2023–2024 plateau has been gentle, so 2021 buyers are mostly fine. Commute reality is the I-25 and I-70 corridors, the RTD light-rail system (including the A Line straight to Denver International), and the legendary weekend I-70 mountain crawl to the ski resorts, which is less a commute than a lifestyle tax. The cost-of-living caveat: BEA RPP for the Denver metro runs near 103–105% of national — no longer the bargain it was a decade ago, but a clear discount to the coasts, with 300 days of sun and the mountains as the compensating premium most residents are explicitly paying for.
What this income feels like
Top 20% in Denver buys the lifestyle people move here for: a 3BR in the Highlands or Wash Park, a Subaru or 4Runner with a ski rack, and weekends in the mountains that justify the whole arrangement. You brunch, you bike the Cherry Creek trail, and you accept that the I-70 ski traffic on Saturday morning is a tax you pay in hours. Colorado's 4.4% flat tax feels light after California. Childcare runs $1,700–$2,200/month. The catch is that the city filled up — the 2012 version of Denver was cheaper and emptier, and longtime locals will tell you so at length.
Top 20% reality check
- You can own a 3BR in Wash Park or the Highlands on a single strong income — a Bay Area transplant's salary stretches dramatically further here even after the price run-up.
- Colorado's flat 4.4% income tax plus no city income tax is a real draw, but the mountain-town second-home market has priced locals out of Summit and Eagle counties entirely.
- The I-70 ski corridor is the hidden cost of the lifestyle premium — a Saturday drive to Vail or Breck can burn three hours each way in winter.
Cost-of-living reality
The median gross rent in Denver is $1,770/month, or roughly 23.2% of the median household income on an annualized basis. The national rent-burden average is about 30%, and anything north of that is treated as rent-burdened by HUD. Denver's median home value is $586,700, a price-to-income ratio of 6.4× — healthy markets run 3–4×, expensive coastal markets routinely exceed 6×. Mean one-way commute is 25.4 minutes, which compounds the real cost of living here for anyone not working remote.
Nearby cities
Denver community discussions
Local subreddits where cost-of-living and income questions get answered by residents. External links, open in a new tab.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good income in Denver?
In Denver, CO, the median household income is $91,681. Earning above $114,693 puts you in the top 40%, and clearing $184,290 places you in the top 20%. A "good" income depends on household size and housing choice, but $184,290 is a useful upper-middle-class threshold for this city.
How does Denver's median income compare to the US?
Denver's median household income of $91,681 is about 16.7% higher than the US median of $78,538 (ACS 2023 5-year, matched to the city vintage). Raw comparisons understate local cost-of-living; Denver's median rent of $1,770 and median home value of $586,700 are the relevant offsets.
What percentile is $100K in Denver?
A household income of $100,000 ranks at roughly the 53th percentile in Denver. That is interpolated from the local ACS quintile breakpoints: p20 $38,281, p40 $72,390, p60 $114,693, p80 $184,290, p95 $476,000.
Is Denver expensive to live in?
Median gross rent in Denver is $1,770/month, which is 23.2% of the median household income on an annualized basis — compared to the national rent-burden average of about 30%. The median home value is $586,700, a price-to-income ratio of 6.4× (healthy markets run 3-4×, expensive markets 6×+).
How is this calculated?
Figures come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 2023 5-year estimates for Denver, Colorado. Income percentiles are city-level approximations derived from ACS B19080 household income quintile upper limits, interpolated from the local median and distribution. Rent burden uses B25071 (median gross rent as % of household income) and mean commute uses B08303.
Methodology & data sources
Calculations on this page use benchmarks from US federal statistical agencies. Percentile breakpoints are interpolated linearly between tabulated cells. Figures are in the dollars of each dataset's reference year unless noted. Numbers are educational estimates, not personalized financial advice.