Colorado rental market data

State research brief

Rents outpaced home values by 1.7 percentage points across the measured metro medians, yet a 4.2% median gross yield and softer resale conditions keep that income signal from becoming a broad buy case.

Updated 2026-07-31 · evidence current to the releases listed below.

The median across 15 measured metro home-value series declined 0.4% year over year, while median asking-rent growth across 13 measured metros was 1.2%. That favors screening for improving rent-to-basis relationships rather than relying on appreciation. It does not establish strong cash flow: the median gross yield across 15 metros was 4.2%, while measured resale conditions included 4.75 months of supply, 50 days on market and a 27.7% median share of listings with price drops.

The principal counter-signal is positive household movement. The packet records net migration of 11,287 people across 60 counties, or 1.9 per 1,000 residents, and a positive aggregate mover-income gap of $537,454 even as the median employment change across 15 metros was negative 0.7%. The conflict calls for locality-level screening. Rent growth covers 13 of 15 metros, supply and marketing time cover 14, and the packet does not provide achieved lease rents, concessions, property operating expenses or parcel-level insurance costs.

01

Metro median rent growth of 1.2% versus negative 0.4% price growth → screen for improving rent-to-basis relationships rather than assuming renewed appreciation

02

A 4.2% median metro gross yield and 5.0% 90th-percentile yield → require deal-level expenses to justify acquisitions near the measured middle of the distribution

03

Median resale conditions of 4.75 months of supply, 50 days on market and 27.7% price drops → include longer disposition periods and sale discounts in underwriting

04

Net migration of 11,287 alongside negative 0.7% median metro job growth → validate demand with local employment and leasing evidence instead of relying on either indicator alone

05

Inland flood as the leading FEMA label in 60 counties → obtain parcel-level hazard and insurance information before converting county risk into operating costs

01

Price and rent momentum

Rent growth beat price growth, but high-price metros retained less yield

Measured metro price changes ran from negative 2.4% at the 10th percentile to positive 2.3% at the 90th, with a negative 0.4% median. Rent growth ranged from 0.2% to 8.4% over the same percentile span and had a positive 1.2% median. Because rent growth is available for 13 metros versus 15 for prices, the 1.7-point supplied median spread is a statewide screening signal rather than proof that every market improved.

Montrose combined 8.9% rent growth with 2.3% price growth and a 5.0% gross yield on a $499,579 value and $2,093 monthly rent. Steamboat Springs posted 8.5% rent growth and 2.9% price growth, but its $1,144,567 value and $3,199 rent produced a 3.4% gross yield. Edwards showed a similar tension: 7.9% rent growth, 2.1% price growth and a 3.0% yield on a $1,315,337 value. Fast rent growth therefore did not translate mechanically into stronger acquisition yield.

Evidence: Zillow ZHVI — metro home values · Zillow ZORI — metro market rents

02

Supply and resale conditions

Steamboat Springs is the clearest measured exit-risk tail

Across 14 measured metros, median supply was 4.75 months and median marketing time was 50 days. The 10th-to-90th percentile ranges were 3.0 to 7.0 months and 29.9 to 79 days. Across 15 metros, the median price-drop share was 27.7%; the median sale-to-list ratio across 14 was 97.7%. These figures support explicit holding-period and resale-discount tests rather than an assumption of quick liquidity.

Steamboat Springs sat beyond the measured 90th-percentile marketing time with 119 days on market and had 7.4 months of supply. Its sale-to-list ratio was 95.7%. Its 20.3% price-drop share was nevertheless below the metro median, showing that price-cut frequency alone would understate its resale friction.

Evidence: Census Building Permits Survey — permitted units · Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts

03

Entry cost and affordability

Pueblo's lower entry price lifts gross yield above the metro range

Across 15 measured metros, the median value was $499,579 and the median asking rent was $1,930. Gross yields ran from 3.4% at the 10th percentile to 5.0% at the 90th, with a 4.2% median. The median price-to-income ratio was 5.95, and annualized rent equaled 26.5% of median income. Measured asking rents were 115.6% of HUD two-bedroom Fair Market Rents at the median.

Pueblo paired a $288,544 value with $1,391 monthly rent, producing a 5.8% gross yield, above the measured 90th-percentile yield. Its price-to-income ratio was 4.51 and its rent-to-income measure was 26.1%. Montrose also showed a 5.0% gross yield, but its rent-to-income measure was 34.8%. These metrics help compare entry basis and tenant-income stretch; they do not include vacancy, maintenance, taxes, insurance, financing or management.

Evidence: Census ACS 5-year — household income · HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standard · Zillow ZHVI — metro home values · Zillow ZORI — metro market rents

04

Employment and household movement

Positive migration and mover income conflict with a contracting job median

The median employment change across 15 metros was negative 0.7%, with a 10th-to-90th percentile range from negative 3.7% to positive 0.6%. In contrast, the migration series recorded a net inflow of 11,287 people across 60 counties, equal to 1.9 per 1,000 residents, plus a positive aggregate mover-income gap of $537,454.

Local employment readings also resist a uniformly weak interpretation: Greeley grew 1.6%, Montrose 0.7% and Fort Collins 0.3%. Positive movement and selected job growth are genuine demand counter-signals, but the IRS migration data are from 2022-2023 while the employment series is current. They should not be treated as synchronized measures or as proof of rental absorption in a specific submarket.

Evidence: Census ACS 5-year — population · BLS CES — payroll employment · BLS LAUS — resident employment · IRS SOI — county migration and mover income

05

Physical risk and property tax

Flood dominates the county hazard labels while tax burdens vary

FEMA assigns inland flood as the mutually exclusive leading-hazard label for 60 counties, hail for two and wildfire for two. These labels identify each county's top hazard only; they do not show that every parcel in a county has that exposure. The median county climate-loss ratio was 0.16%, with a 90th-percentile value of 0.26%. Clear Creek County's measured ratio was 0.5%.

The median effective property-tax rate across 64 counties was 0.39%, with a 10th-to-90th percentile range of 0.28% to 0.52%. Median tax amounts ranged from $556.1 to $3,055.9 over that percentile span. Adams County had a 0.61% rate and $2,962 median tax, Broomfield County had a 0.60% rate and $4,007 median tax, and Kiowa County had a 0.58% rate but $939 median tax. Both the rate and the dollar burden therefore belong in county-level screening.

Evidence: FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratios · Census ACS 5-year — effective property tax

Evidence selected for Colorado

The ranges behind the analysis

Each row keeps its own unit and shows the measured 10th percentile, median and 90th percentile. A single-value row is labelled directly.

Price and rent momentumAre home values and asking rents moving together or separating?

Supply and resale conditionsWhat do permits, inventory, marketing time and price cuts say about pressure?

Entry cost and affordabilityHow far do local prices, rents, incomes and HUD rent standards stretch?

Shape of the state

Distribution before conclusion

A statewide median can hide a wide spread. These SVG charts render at build time and carry no chart library or browser-side data request.

Metro score distribution13 scored metros · median 36.0

County evidence coverageEvery gap stays visible as missing—not estimated

Highest measured metro gross yieldsscreening metric only · before expenses and financing

Metro leaderboard

Markets touching Colorado

Multi-state CBSAs appear in every member state. Score is still a metro score; no value is reweighted into a statewide ranking.

#	Metro	Score	Price	Rent	Yield	Jobs
1	Montrose, CO	55	$500k	$2,093	5.0%	▲ 0.7%
2	Greeley, CO	53	$498k	$1,758	4.2%	▲ 1.6%
3	Grand Junction, CO	49	$438k	$1,766	4.8%	▼ 0.2%
4	Fort Collins, CO	42	$558k	$1,950	4.2%	▲ 0.3%
5	Edwards, CO	38	$1315k	$3,285	3.0%	▼ 0.5%
6	Pueblo, CO	38	$289k	$1,391	5.8%	▼ 0.9%
7	Denver, CO	36	$573k	$1,930	4.0%	▼ 0.1%
8	Durango, CO	31	$692k	$2,019	3.5%	▲ 0.1%
9	Steamboat Springs, CO	28	$1145k	$3,199	3.4%	▼ 3.6%
10	Colorado Springs, CO	25	$457k	$1,779	4.7%	▼ 0.7%
11	Boulder, CO	24	$728k	$2,297	3.8%	▼ 0.9%
12	Breckenridge, CO	23	$985k	$3,337	4.1%	▼ 1.5%

Showing the top 12 scored metros of 15. Unscored metros remain discoverable through the national rankings.

Below the metro line

Largest counties in Colorado

County figures join on the five-digit FIPS code. The table uses measured local values and prints “n/a” wherever a publisher has no record.

County	Population	Price	Rent	Yield	Hazard
El Paso County, CO	742,999	$456k	$1,777	4.7%	inland flooding
Denver County, CO	718,877	$546k	$1,889	4.2%	inland flooding
Arapahoe County, CO	659,844	$516k	$1,821	4.2%	hail
Jefferson County, CO	579,377	$629k	$1,981	3.8%	inland flooding
Adams County, CO	530,225	$486k	$1,856	4.6%	hail
Douglas County, CO	377,150	$712k	$2,306	3.9%	inland flooding
Larimer County, CO	367,368	$558k	$1,950	4.2%	inland flooding
Weld County, CO	350,396	$498k	$1,758	4.2%	inland flooding
Boulder County, CO	328,961	$728k	$2,297	3.8%	inland flooding
Pueblo County, CO	169,356	$289k	$1,391	5.8%	inland flooding
Mesa County, CO	158,601	$438k	$1,766	4.8%	inland flooding
Broomfield County, CO	76,304	$629k	$2,035	3.9%	inland flooding

County yield sample32/64counties have the rent needed to compute yield

Statewide net migration+11,287IRS tax-return households summed across counties

Median investor share6.8%among counties with HMDA purchase records

Published city evidence

Go from Colorado to a city record

These links exist only where an official Census place, direct city price and rent series, and a checked city brief are all available.

City · CODenver$539k home · $1,877 rent · 4.2% yield City · COColorado Springs$450k home · $1,739 rent · 4.6% yield City · COAurora$462k home · $1,759 rent · 4.6% yield City · COFort Collins$569k home · $1,938 rent · 4.1% yield City · COLakewood$573k home · $1,814 rent · 3.8% yield City · COPueblo$288k home · $1,392 rent · 5.8% yield City · COGreeley$423k home · $1,474 rent · 4.2% yield City · COLongmont$558k home · $1,961 rent · 4.2% yield City · COCastle Rock$673k home · $2,493 rent · 4.4% yield City · COLoveland$504k home · $1,859 rent · 4.4% yield City · COGrand Junction$429k home · $1,768 rent · 4.9% yield

Sources used in this analysis

Measured releases, not a global source count

Only sources supporting the selected evidence modules are listed here.

Bear case

What can break the thesis

Gross yields use home values and asking rents before vacancy, concessions, maintenance, management, taxes, insurance and financing, so the apparent rent-price advantage may not survive a net-income calculation.
Rent growth covers 13 of 15 metros, while supply and marketing-time measures cover 14; the measured distributions do not establish conditions in every Colorado locality.
The positive migration signal comes from 2022-2023 and is not synchronized with the current employment, rent and resale series.
Asking-rent data do not show achieved rents, renewal increases, tenant quality or unit-level vacancy, leaving rental absorption and affordability uncertain.
County leading-hazard labels and loss ratios are not parcel exposure or insurance quotes, so physical-risk costs may differ materially within the same county.

Investor questions

Before underwriting a property

Does the rent-price split establish improving cash flow?

No. Median rent growth exceeded median price growth by 1.7 percentage points, but the median gross yield was only 4.2% and excludes all operating and financing costs.

Which highlighted metro offers the strongest headline entry yield?

Pueblo showed a 5.8% gross yield on a $288,544 value and $1,391 monthly rent, above the measured metro 90th-percentile yield of 5.0%. That is a gross screening measure, not a projected return.

Are Colorado's measured demand indicators aligned?

No. Net migration was positive by 11,287 across 60 counties and the aggregate mover-income gap was positive, while median metro employment declined 0.7%. Selected metros had positive job growth, so the demand reading depends on locality and data period.

Where is resale friction most visible in the selected evidence?

Steamboat Springs had 119 days on market, 7.4 months of supply and a 95.7% sale-to-list ratio. Its 20.3% price-drop share was below the metro median, so price cuts alone would not identify the full liquidity risk.

What evidence is still needed before evaluating a specific property?

The packet lacks achieved lease terms, concessions, property expenses, unit-level vacancy, parcel hazard exposure and insurance premiums. Those gaps prevent its metro and county distributions from supporting a property-level return conclusion.