This week, U.S. News and World report again released its popular ‘best places to live’ ranking, and once again, Colorado got snubbed in a big way. Just two short years ago Colorado Springs ranked as the 3rd-best place to live in the United States in the same report with Boulder ranking fourth. This year, neither spot managed to crack the top 250. Why is there such a huge drop in the national rankings? What does this mean for Colorado real estate?
What was in the data on best places to live 2026
Midland, Texas. Palatine, Illinois. Enid, Oklahoma. All of those places along with 83 others were determined to be ‘better places to live’ than anywhere in Colorado. The top ranking Centennial State spot in the 2026-2027 report was Parker, ranking 87th. hat was in the ranking data on the best places to live
It’s not hard to point to Colorado’s cost of living as a key factor in the abysmal ‘best places’ showing, reported by the Colorado Chamber of Commerce as the fourth-most expensive state in the country in 2025, which is a climb from the 17th-most expensive state in 2022. In terms of housing affordability, the state ranks even worse – the 3rd-most expensive, which is an increase from the 10th-most expensive in 2021.
Why did Colorado drop so far down the best places list?
The four major categories for ranking in the report are:
- Value 28%: Colorado is near the bottom in this metric as taxes have soared, house prices are higher than most of the country, and insurance costs are through the roof
- Quality of life 27%: Colorado theoretically should rank pretty high in this metric with abundant outdoors, trails, etc… but with the lack of investment in roads, I think anyone heading up I70 on the weekend would ding the quality of life when it takes 4 hours to get to the mountains :<
- Desirability 24%: I think desirability factors into job market and value along with perceptions of the area. Colorado was the it place, but now it is the get out of town place as for the first time Colorado is losing more residents than it is gaining. Unfortunately, not having a single city mentioned in the top 75 places to live furthers this negative perception.
- Job Market 21% : Every day I read articles about companies relocating from Colorado for lower costs of doing business. This is highlighted in the downtown Denver vacancy rate of over 46% in some parts of the cities. Businesses are voting with their feet and taking jobs with them.
Long and short Colorado has fallen out of favor for the best place to live due to high cost of living, high taxes, declining job prospects, etc… I’m sure many will debate that the survey is skewed, when looking at this objectively from the outside I can see why Colorado ranked the way we did.
Why should we even care how Colorado is ranked?
I’m sure many will see this ranking and dismiss it as dumb that has no impact on Colorado. I would beg to disagree. When you think of cities and states everyone is competing against one another for jobs, people, capital, etc… so perceptions matter. Let’s take Amazon who was looking to select a new area to move people from Seattle. Denver and Colorado wasn’t even on the short list due to the cost of living, taxation, and unfriendly business policies. Amazon chose Nashville. Furthermore, instead of Wall street companies expanding their footprint in Colorado, they have focused on Salt Lake city.
What does the drop in ranking mean for Colorado real estate?
As mentioned above, unfortunately perceptions can become reality. The negative attention Colorado has been getting regarding crime, high taxes, businesses leaving the state, lists like this one where cities are ranked towards the bottom do not help real estate prices.
The commercial market is in for some challenges with offices bearing the brunt, but we are also seeing impacts to industrial due to new “green” energy efficiency laws and the apartment sector due to gross overreach of the legislature on evictions.
On the residential side, Denver will continue to face pressure on prices especially in Class B/C condos due to soaring expenses. Houses should fare better but will also face downward pressure due to the loss of jobs in the front range.
Do not dismiss “best list” that places Colorado at the bottom
It is easy to dismiss any “best list” as political or biased or whatever. Unfortunately, it is not just the best places to live list, if you look at the Wall Street Journal and various other major publications Colorado’s cachet is definitely diminishing.
The legislature’s anti-business stance has taken a huge toll on the desirability of Colorado and businesses are voting with their feet taking both jobs and investment elsewhere. Furthermore, the cost of living in Colorado has continued to increase also due to the legislature’s unrelenting spend and tax initiatives that are trickling down to everyone who lives in Colorado from homeless initiatives, free healthcare for all, free lunches, etc… The current path for Colorado is unsustainable.
Fortunately, Colorado does have some huge advantages like the quality of life that could place Colorado back in the running for great cities, but these advantages are being overshadowed by economic issues created by various cities and the legislature. Hopefully Colorado can quickly right the ship if not look for Colorado to resemble places more like Chicago than fast growing Salt Lake City.
Additional Reading/Resources:
- https://www.denvergazette.com/outtherecolorado/2026/05/20/colorado-snubbed-in-best-places-to-live-report-with-no-city-cracking-top-75-spots-nationwide/
- https://realestate.usnews.com/places/rankings/best-places-to-live
- https://coloradohardmoney.com/lakewood-defeats-upzoning/
- https://coloradohardmoney.com/denver-surpasses-tampa-with-fastest-falling-prices-is-the-sky-falling/
- https://coloradohardmoney.com/why-are-colorado-property-taxes-rising/
We are a Colorado Private/ Hard Money Lender funding in cash!
If you were forwarded this message, please subscribe to our newsletter
I need your help as my goal in writing these articles is to provide the best information/insight on Colorado Real Estate that you cannot get anywhere else! Please like and share my articles on linked in, twitter, facebook, and other social media and forward to your friends/associates 😊 I would greatly appreciate it.
Glen Weinberg personally writes these weekly real estate blogs based on his real estate experience as a lender and property owner. He is the owner of Fairview Commercial Lending. Glen has been published as an expert in hard money lending, real estate valuation, financing, and various other real estate topics in Bloomberg, Businessweek ,the Colorado Real Estate Journal, National Association of Realtors Magazine, The Real Deal real estate news, the CO Biz Magazine, The Denver Post, The Scotsman mortgage broker guide, Mortgage Professional America and various other national publications.
Glen resides in Colorado, lends in Colorado, owns property in Colorado, and services loans in Colorado which provides a unique real estate prospective of what is actually happening on the ground both in Denver and throughout Colorado. My goal of this real estate blog is to provide an honest assessment of what I see happening in Colorado real estate and how it will impact real estate owners, buyers, realtors, mortgage professionals, etc…
Fairview is the recognized leader in Colorado Hard Money and Colorado private lending focusing on residential investment properties and commercial properties both in Denver and throughout the state. We are the Colorado experts having closed thousands of loans throughout the Front range, Western slope, resort communities, and everywhere in between. We also live, work, and play in the mountains throughout Colorado and understand the intricacies of each market.
When you call you will speak directly to the decision makers and get an honest answer quickly. We are recognized in the industry as the leader in Colorado hard money lending with no upfront fees or any other games. Learn more about Hard Money Lending through our free Hard Money Guide. To get started on a loan all we need is our simple one page application (no upfront fees or other games). Learn how to find a reputable hard money lender and why Fairview is the best hard money lender for investors.
Tags: Denver hard money, Denver Colorado hard money lender, Colorado hard money, Colorado private lender, Denver private lender, Colorado ski lender, Colorado real estate trends, Colorado real estate prices, Private real estate loans, Hard money loans, Private real estate mortgage, Hard money mortgage lender, Hard money mortgage lender, residential hard money loans, commercial hard money loans, private mortgage lender, Hard Money Lender, Private lender, private real estate lender, residential hard money lender, commercial hard money lender, No doc real estate lender