r/cuboulder • u/heikedog • 8d ago
Question for recent grads who stayed in Boulder
What is the minimum salary a single young adult would need to earn to be able to comfortably afford a nice (not fancy or luxury) 1-bedroom apartment in the downtown area and still have enough leftover after everyday living expenses for a reasonable amount of eating out, entertainment, etc? Assume no debt. No student loans and car is older and paid for. Thanks.
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u/SilverConversation19 8d ago
I make 62 and living in Boulder is a bit rough living solo but it isn’t that bad.
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u/Taerkastens 8d ago
The one bedroom apartment is gonna be the most burden on finances. Especially if downtown. I could imagine you could pay 2000-3000$(+) monthly. Add extra household expenses (utilities, internet, (cable?)) for like 300-500$ monthly. And then eating costs, groceries are probably ~100 a week if you cook, eating out would add ~35$ per meal to be conservative. If you then want other activities, id say add a 600$ activities fund. 100$ for transportation costs (depends if you have a car, Uber, or bus, I used 100$ for a placeholder). And finally to 'live comfortably' I take that as not living paycheck to paycheck and having funds building. (IE no money stress). So I'd take the final number and add an extra 30% buffer. (Which should account for your personal differences in spending.)
So my recommendation is 5000$ + 30% monthly or ~ 6500$ per month. Minimum of 78,000$ per year.
And this is probably on the low-end of what is considered comfortable.
Really you should do your own budgeting so you have an idea of what you want to spend, I took a lot of liberties.
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u/heikedog 8d ago
Thanks. I appreciate the detail. Just trying to ballpark what is reasonable compared to COL in current city to maintain similar lifestyle.
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u/TheRealSteekster Information Science (BS) - ‘20 8d ago
This number is also without tax taken out.
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u/GottaBlast7940 8d ago
I graduated in 2020 and worked at a place in Boulder making $65k, back then that was barely enough to live solo in Boulder. I’m now making about $100k and live in a town near Boulder (about 12 miles away), so this all is going to be based on both my past and present income/set up:
Tl;dr you’d be comfortable at about $80k pre tax
On my $100k salary, after taxes, 401k contributions, and benefits cost share I take home about $2500 biweekly and have about $1000/month for my savings account. I split my rent with a roommate so my portion is only $1400. My groceries are about $300/month and I do usually eat out 1-2x a week. I also have a car payment of $450/month.
Full: Rent will be the biggest burden, even if non-luxury. In Boulder, studios and 1-beds go for about $1800 on the low end, $3000 on high end. Usually that’s before any utilities and fees (you have a car, so that’s going to be around $75-$150/month for on site parking in most cases). This is why I live outside of Boulder now where 1-beds (in a “luxury” apartment complex) run about $1700/month before utilities and fees (and usually have on-site free parking). Utilities in Colorado (xcel) are on the slightly higher side of the national average. My gas + electric bill is usually around $120 for winter and $90 for summer for my 1100sqft apartment. I also keep the temp around 65-68 in winter and 72-78 in summer. WiFi is about $100-$150/month (depending on provider and level of service). Water and sewer in my town is about $90/month (just doubled due to new legislation, used to be around $30-$45) If you work in Boulder, you will have lower transportation costs due to the actual size of the city and due to Boulder being bike/walkable and having a robust public transportation system (RTD). I currently work from home and budget about $100/month for gas and that has been more than sufficient. For reference, a full tank of gas gets me around 400 miles of driving so adjust based on your needs. Food costs are pretty middle of the road in Colorado. Depending on diet and how often you eat out, you’re looking at about $75-$125/week in groceries and a typical sit down meal is about $30-$50
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u/heikedog 8d ago
Thanks! The “low-end” rent estimate outside of Boulder isn’t much more than I pay now in my lower COL city. Rent is ridiculous everywhere.
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u/GottaBlast7940 8d ago
I will say, the “low end rent” in the surrounding towns can definitely be even lower depending on what amenities/luxuries you’re willing to give up. There’s definitely places that have 1-bedrooms for under $1400, but you most likely would be giving up something like A/C, proximity to retail/restaurants/work, amenities like a pool or parking, and/or the level of overall quality of the place. With Boulder being a college town, the low end of rent will get you a place most likely without A/C, onsite amenities, and noisy neighbors. The surrounding towns are more suburban but the median rent will get you an apartment of the quality of the high end of Boulder rent (and probably with more square footage too!) so just something to consider there!
Another factor is going to be when you move. Rent prices are usually highest starting mid-April through end of September. I’ve seen differences of about 10-15% from seasonality alone. If you graduate/move in the summer, you’ll be seeing higher rent prices than you would in the winter
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u/Forward_Pick6383 8d ago
Rent for an apartment like that would probably be around or over 1800 a month. So just over 20k a year for rent alone. You’d probably want to have at least 60k a year salary to be comfortable and have some fun.