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 published benchmarks from US federal statistical agencies. Percentile breakpoints are interpolated linearly between published cells. Figures are in current-year USD unless noted. Numbers are educational estimates, not personalized financial advice.