Colorado and Utah at a glance
Colorado and Utah share a border, but a paycheck does not travel across it unchanged. A $60,000 salary leaves $22,208 a year after taxes and the four basics in Colorado and $26,440 in Utah.
Utah comes out ahead by $4,233 a year ($353 a month). The calculation starts from the same gross pay in both states, subtracts federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, then each state's own income tax, and then the population-weighted cost of a one-bedroom rental, groceries, home energy and gasoline across 5,862,189 people in 64 counties in Colorado and 3,392,331 people in 29 counties in Utah.
Taxes: what each paycheck loses
Federal income tax ($5,072) and FICA ($4,590) on $60,000 are the same on both sides of the border. State income tax takes $1,980 in Colorado and $2,346 in Utah, which leaves take-home pay of $48,359 and $47,993.
At $100,000
At $100,000 take-home pay is $75,161 in Colorado and $74,401 in Utah, a difference of $760. The gap widens with income because graduated state brackets take a growing share.
Living costs
One-bedroom rent averages $1,606 a month in Colorado and $1,231 in Utah, so Utah is $375 a month cheaper for housing. Food costs $3,436 a year in both, because the USDA Thrifty Food Plan is a national figure; home energy $1,987 and $1,802, and gasoline $1,451 and $1,542. Together the basics cost $26,151 a year in Colorado and $21,552 in Utah.
What the Census adds
Median household income is $95,470 in Colorado and $95,166 in Utah. Homeowners pay a median of $2,602 a year in property tax in Colorado and $2,525 in Utah. Commuters travel 25.2 minutes each way on average in Colorado and 22.1 in Utah.
Method
Taxes use the 2025 rules for a single filer with wage income only and the standard deduction. Housing and living costs are county figures from HUD (one-bedroom Fair Market Rent), the USDA Thrifty Food Plan and state energy prices from the Energy Information Administration, averaged across each state's counties and weighted by population, so large counties count more. Local income taxes are not included. Counties differ widely inside every state, so use the county pages for a specific place.