Greeley tops state for most discretionary income

Boulder residents take home a higher salary than anyone else in the mountain states, but that benefit is dwarfed by high housing prices. Meanwhile, Greeley fares best in the state for discretionary income.

Salaries in Boulder are 8.9 percent higher than the regional average, according to a new Discretionary Income Study from Trove Technologies Inc., a tech company that helps with packing and moving household items.

Despite the high salary, Boulder residents are saddled with housing expenses that are 17.6 percent higher than the average.

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Because of this, even though Boulder has the highest salaries, it’s ranked No. 3 in Colorado for discretionary income. Workers in Boulder see only 1.9 percent higher discretionary income when high housing expenses are factored into high salaries. Boulder falls behind Greeley, ranked No. 1, and Pueblo and outranks Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Denver and Colorado Springs.

In the mountain state region, Colorado ranks No. 4 for discretionary income, behind Nevada, Wyoming and Idaho. It ranks No. 24 nationally.

According to the study, Boulder’s average salary is $52,057. With estimated taxes at more than $12,000 and basic expenses around $32,000, that leaves a discretionary income of $6,657.

Although its discretionary income is slightly less, Greeley is ranked higher than Boulder because of less taxes and cost of expenses. With an average salary of $45,601, taxes of about $10,000 and expenses of just under $30,000, Greeley’s discretionary income is $5,106.

And Fort Collins has an average salary of $48,502, expenses of about $30,000 and taxes of about $11,000, making its discretionary income $6,205.

The study was put together using data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, The Tax Foundation, The Council for Community and Economic Research and used a proprietary algorithm to determine how each city scored.