Cost of Living in Centennial, CO

An Overview of Cost of Living in Centennial, CO

Knowing the cost of living in Centennial allows individuals to create a realistic budget. This helps them understand how their income will cover expenses and whether they need to make financial adjustments. The cost of living in any region can fluctuate due to various factors. To assess the cost of living consistently across different areas, a national average of 100 serves as the basis for the cost of living index. The cost of living in Centennial stands at 140, marking it 40% higher than the national average.

If you're in pursuit of an economical living environment, Centennial may not fit the bill, as it ranks among the most expensive places to reside in the United States. Just a minority of regions exhibit a cost of living that is more than 20% higher than the national average, and, unfortunately, Centennial falls within this bracket.

Housing costs make up a big chunk of the cost of living in Centennial, and they usually eat into a large part of your take-home pay. Unfortunately, in this area, both buying a home and renting one costs 128.3% more than the average city. This includes stuff like home prices, rent, mortgage rates, and insurance.

What Do Locals Say About the Cost of Living in Centennial?

The real experts on a city are its residents. That's why we reached out to 8 locals to get their views on the cost of living in Centennial. We surveyed the residents and asked them if they felt like prices were affordable or out of reach. The results were as follows. 38% found it budget-friendly with decreasing prices, while 63% said it's simply not affordable as prices have continued to rise.

Is Centennial Affordable?

Is Centennial an affordable place to live? That's a valid question to ask when you're thinking about moving to a new city. After all, how much it costs to live somewhere can be a huge factor in your decision. Affordability can be broken down into 3 common categories. The cost of living index (we talked about it earlier), housing expenses and income levels all play a big role in figuring out if a place is affordable. For instance, in Centennial, the median home price is 148.1% higher than what most folks pay across the country, and monthly rent prices are 82.1% higher than the usual rates. Income levels in Centennial come in at $109,767, which is 98.4% higher than the national average.

What Factors can Influence the Cost of Living in Centennial?

Urbanization: Urban areas with a wealth of amenities and employment opportunities tend to come with a higher price tag for living. Why? Well, more people want to be there, which drives up home prices and rents. On the flip side, less densely populated rural areas or places where there's not as much demand usually mean fewer attractions, things to do and slower job growth. That often results in a lower cost of living.

Taxes: Cities that enforce higher taxes, covering both sales taxes and income taxes, can be a factor contributing to a higher cost of living. Paying more in taxes for everyday essentials like clothing and food inevitably leads to higher expenses. A higher income tax rate can further contribute to an overall elevated cost of living. In Centennial, the baseline sales tax rate begins at 2.9%, and income tax rates start at 4.4%.

Healthcare: Healthcare costs and insurance premiums can undergo substantial fluctuations based on the city or state of residence. Elements such as the availability of healthcare facilities, out-of-pocket costs for medical consultations, dental expenses, prescription medication charges and specialized medical care fees all contribute to variations in the cost of living. In Centennial, healthcare costs are 1.3% lower than the national average.

Where is the Data From?

The Centennial cost of living data displayed above is derived from the C2ER cost of living index to provide a useful and reasonably accurate measure of living cost differences in urban areas. The index takes into account data from 300 independent researches, covering more than 60 goods and services across 6 different categories, to create an overall index for each area, with 100 being the average. The C2ER index does not include sales or income tax rates in their data, however AreaVibes does include both income and sales tax rates in the overall cost of living score for each area.