Your monthly budget in Denver.

Denver had 729,019 residents in 2024, a median household income of $92,504 and a median gross rent of $1,870 a month, according to the Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey. That rent is higher than the national median by a wide margin, and it is the number that shapes almost every Denver budget: a nurse at Denver Health, a line cook in RiNo and a software analyst in the Tech Center all start the month by paying it.

The city has tried to keep wages moving with prices. Denver’s local minimum wage rose to $19.29 an hour on January 1, 2026, up from $18.81, with tipped food and beverage workers at $16.27, according to the City and County of Denver. The adjustment is tied to inflation, and for 2026 it came to 2.56%. Rent renewals, as many tenants have found, do not always stay that modest.

This page is for Denver renters who feel that a decent paycheck still runs out before the month does: hourly workers on the city minimum, early-career professionals sharing a two-bedroom, and couples deciding whether to renew or move. By the end you will know exactly what your rent, taxes and weekends leave, and how to plan a lease decision with numbers instead of guesses.

What the stub takes before rent

Colorado taxes income at a flat rate, 4.4% for the 2025 tax year according to NerdWallet’s summary of state law, with the rate allowed to move when state revenue exceeds limits. On top of federal withholding, Social Security and Medicare, Denver workers see one small line most other Americans do not: the Occupational Privilege Tax, $5.75 a month for anyone who earns at least about $500 in a month working inside the city. Your employer pays its own $4 share on top.

Neither line is large, but both are fixed, and the point of a budget is to start from the deposit that actually reaches your account. Read it from your latest stub and enter it as income.

The rent is the plan

At $1,870 a month, the median Denver rent takes about 24% of the median household’s gross income. For a single worker on $19.29 an hour, full time, it would take more than half of a month’s pre-tax pay, which is why so many Denver renters share. Splitting a lease changes the math, but it adds a new fixed item: your share of utilities, internet and anything else that comes on one bill.

In Monthly, rent goes in first as a fixed cost with its due date, followed by each shared bill with only your portion. If a roommate pays you back, log the reimbursement as income the day it arrives, not before. The guide on splitting bills with roommates covers the agreements that keep this simple.

Sales tax and the small purchases

The combined sales tax rate in most of Denver is 9.15%, according to Avalara’s 2026 rate tables, made up of the state, city, RTD and cultural facilities district. On a $1,200 laptop or a $600 set of tires, that is real money. Plan large purchases with the tax included, and the number you budget will match the receipt.

Refunds you should not count on

For several years Colorado sent TABOR refunds that felt like a bonus. That is changing. The refund paid with 2025 returns in 2026 ranged from about $20 to $62 for single filers, Colorado Public Radio reported in 2025, and Axios reported that for the first time in six years no TABOR refund was projected for 2027. A plan that quietly expected a spring check now has a hole. Leave refunds out of income and log them only when they arrive.

Example one: a restaurant worker on the city minimum

The figures in both examples are illustrative. Marisol works the counter at a fast-casual restaurant in Capitol Hill, 36 hours a week at $19.29. After federal tax, FICA, the 4.4% state tax and the $5.75 OPT, she takes home about $2,320 a month.

She shares a two-bedroom near Colfax. Her fixed costs: half the rent $1,050, half of Xcel and internet $95, renters insurance $15, phone $55, RTD monthly pass $88, student loan $140, credit card minimum $45. Total: $1,488. Weekend reserve: $160.

$2,320 minus $1,488 minus $160 leaves $672 of real free money.

That number told her two things. First, the January raise, about $75 a month before taxes at her hours, was already absorbed by the latest rent increase on the lease. Second, $672 was enough to start an emergency fund goal of $1,500 at $200 a month and still keep a margin for the weeks when the restaurant cut her hours.

Enter your take-home pay and your share of the rent, and see what the month actually leaves you →

Example two: a couple deciding whether to renew

Ben is a project coordinator at a construction firm and takes home $4,150 a month. Priya is a respiratory therapist at a hospital in Aurora and takes home $4,600. Their one-bedroom in the Highlands has a renewal offer of $2,250, up from $2,080.

Combined income: $8,750.

Fixed costs at the new rent: rent $2,250, renters insurance $18, Xcel and internet $180, two phones $120, car payment and insurance $560, gas $150, Priya’s parking $60, student loans $410, ski pass savings goal $120. Total: $3,868. Weekend reserve: $450.

$8,750 minus $3,868 minus $450 leaves $4,432.

They built a second version with a two-bedroom in Englewood at $1,950. Moving costs of about $1,800 spread over twelve months added $150 a month, and the drive for Ben added $90 in gas. Free money came out at $4,492, only $60 better, with a longer commute and a year of moving-cost payments. They renewed, and put the $170 increase on a calendar reminder to renegotiate before the next renewal.

How Monthly fits a Denver month

Monthly is a free, manual budgeting app for the web and Android. It does not connect to your bank, does not move money and does not give financial advice. You enter what comes in, what goes out on a schedule and what you owe, and the app shows what is free to spend. Savings goals, like a ski season or a security deposit, live under Patrimonio with a target, a date and the contributions you log. The features page lists the rest, including reminders and exports.

Real free money and your next step

In Denver the rent decides most of the month, and small fixed lines like the OPT and a transit pass decide the rest. Real free money is what remains after those, plus a weekend reserve, come out of the deposit you actually receive. With that figure in front of you, a renewal letter or a raise becomes a change to one line, not a guess about whether you can afford it.

Set up this month in Monthly with your real rent and stub, and test the renewal before you sign →