Home / States / Colorado vs Rhode Island

Colorado vs Rhode Island

Regional price parities head to head: how far the same dollar goes in Colorado and Rhode Island, with rents and goods split out. Rhode Island is the cheaper side. Statistics, not reviews.

Price gap 1%Cheaper Rhode IslandHousing rents -17%Release v2026-08Price gap 1%Cheaper Rhode IslandHousing rents -17%Release v2026-08Price gap 1%Cheaper Rhode IslandHousing rents -17%Release v2026-08Price gap 1%Cheaper Rhode IslandHousing rents -17%Release v2026-08Price gap 1%Cheaper Rhode IslandHousing rents -17%Release v2026-08Price gap 1%Cheaper Rhode IslandHousing rents -17%Release v2026-08

Rents · U.S. = 100

-17% in RHO

Colorado rents run 21% higher

127.4ColoradoRhode Island105.6

five bands of the 51-state ladder · green cheaper → red pricier · price parity

How expensive · of 51

2 places apart

Colorado is mid-table: #39 of 51 cheapest

#39ColoradoRhode Island#37

ranked cheapest #1 → priciest #51 · overall parity

Safety · 0–100

RHO +12 pts

Rhode Island is safer by 12 points

71Colorado · 4.49/100kRhode Island · 2.07/100k83

score 0–100 from the homicide rate · higher is safer · our score

Too close to call

Level on price, apart elsewhere

Rhode Island is only 1% cheaper overall — 102.3 against 103.1, too small a gap to decide a move on. Where the two really part company:

  • Homicide rate4.5 in Colorado against 2.1 in Rhode Island
  • Property tax$4,900 in Rhode Island against $2,602 in Colorado
  • Electricity29.5¢ in Rhode Island against 16.2¢ in Colorado

6Grocery pricesmeasuredstate columns · Costely estimate

Food prices: Colorado vs Rhode Island

Estimated from the measured U.S. average shop price × the state's goods parity — Colorado 98.7, Rhode Island 97.2. The gap between the two columns is the same on every row, because both come from one national price through parity.

Item COL RHO
Eggs, grade A largeEgg prices swing severalfold within a year on bird-flu cycles ($2.19 in July 2026 against $4.95 at the 2025 peak). The measurement month matters more here than in any other row. per dozen $2.16 $2.13
Chicken, fresh, whole per lb $1.98 $1.95
Chicken legs, bone-in per lb $1.70 $1.67
Chicken breast, boneless per lb $4.10 $4.04
Ground beef, 100% beef per lb $6.80 $6.69
Ground beef, lean and extra lean per lb $8.30 $8.18
Ground chuck, 100% beef per lb $6.76 $6.66
Chuck roast, USDA choice, boneless per lb $9.51 $9.36
Steak, sirloin, USDA choice, boneless per lb $14.40 $14.18
Bacon, sliced per lb $6.50 $6.40
Ham, boneless, excluding canned per lb $5.42 $5.34
Pork chops, center cut, bone-in per lb · May 2026 $4.84 $4.77
Milk, fresh, whole, fortified per gallon $4.26 $4.19
Milk, fresh, low fat per gallon $3.75 $3.69
Butter, salted, grade AA per lb $3.87 $3.81
Cheese, American, processed per lb $4.68 $4.61
Ice cream, prepackaged per half gallon $5.76 $5.67
Bananas per lb $0.64 $0.63
Oranges, navel per lb · June 2026 $1.52 $1.50
Potatoes, white per lb $0.93 $0.92
Tomatoes, field grown per lb $1.98 $1.95
Bread, white, pan per lb $1.80 $1.77
Bread, whole wheat, pan per lb · May 2026 $2.78 $2.74
Flour, white, all purpose per lb $0.54 $0.53
Rice, white, long grain, uncooked per lb $1.09 $1.07
Sugar, white, all sizes per lb $1.01 $1.00
Coffee, 100%, ground roast per lb $9.20 $9.06
Orange juice, frozen concentrate per 16 oz $4.75 $4.68
Potato chips per 16 oz $6.47 $6.38
Soft drinks, 2 litre per 2 litres $2.24 $2.20

State grocery prices are estimates, not measured. Each state column is the measured U.S. average price multiplied by that state’s goods parity; grocery prices are not published for individual states. Petrol and household energy are deliberately absent here — goods parity fails on them, so they carry real per-state prices in their own block instead.

5What it means

Same lifestyle, new price

$1,000 in Rhode Island buys what $1,008 buys in Colorado

because the same basket is priced 1% lower in Rhode Island — 102.3 against 103.1 on the price parities.

state averages · estimate

4Actual pay

Private-sector pay, before tax

Averages, not medians — large salaries lift them above what a typical worker earns.

Average monthly payWorth after local prices
Coloradoaverage pay $7,436 $7,212
Rhode Islandaverage pay $6,093 $5,956

Colorado — $1,256 more a month in real terms

Prices widen a gap that already exists on paper — above all through rents.

Monthly = weekly × 52 ÷ 12; the price adjustment divides by the overall parity — both our own calculations.

5Pay by occupationmeasured

Salary compared: Colorado and Rhode Island

Annual median wage, all industries, May 2025. Sorted by the widest gap between Colorado and Rhode Island — these are measured wages, before tax, with no adjustment for local prices.

Occupation COL RHO Diff
Elementary School Teachers $63,410 $90,930 +43%
Secondary School Teachers $72,900 $92,610 +27%
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers $97,350 $77,230 -21%
Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters $63,240 $76,470 +21%
Waiters and Waitresses $44,860 $35,420 -21%
Electricians $62,230 $74,090 +19%
Construction Laborers $47,900 $57,240 +19%
Pharmacists $156,030 $128,180 -18%
Lawyers $168,520 $138,960 -18%
Security Guards $45,150 $36,940 -18%
Welders and Cutters $58,590 $50,580 -14%
Home Health and Personal Care Aides $38,540 $43,680 +13%
Fast Food and Counter Workers $36,270 $31,490 -13%
Medical and Health Services Managers $134,910 $119,260 -12%
Cooks, Restaurant $41,600 $36,510 -12%
General and Operations Managers $131,840 $117,380 -11%
Financial Managers $182,690 $166,940 -9%
Firefighters $74,170 $67,380 -9%
Childcare Workers $40,750 $36,940 -9%
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand $45,370 $41,690 -8%
Retail Salespersons $37,950 $34,860 -8%
Mechanical Engineers $124,430 $116,230 -7%
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants $48,690 $52,140 +7%
Software Developers $138,390 $130,590 -6%
Computer Systems Analysts $127,750 $134,630 +5%
Real Estate Sales Agents $63,670 $60,310 -5%
Cashiers $36,870 $34,860 -5%
Carpenters $62,830 $60,840 -3%
Medical Assistants $48,400 $47,190 -3%
Janitors and Cleaners $38,600 $37,310 -3%
Civil Engineers $101,420 $99,300 -2%
Truck Drivers, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer $61,500 $60,190 -2%
Nursing Assistants $47,380 $46,440 -2%
Accountants and Auditors $97,030 $95,820 -1%
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General $51,280 $50,900 -1%
Bookkeeping and Accounting Clerks $54,000 $53,280 -1%
Receptionists $42,010 $42,620 +1%
Marketing Managers $182,730 — —
Registered Nurses $100,260 $100,640 0%
Customer Service Representatives $47,540 $47,550 0%

Note: Estimates are medians for all workers in the occupation statewide, produced by a model-based method using three years of survey data and the 2018 SOC. Occupations with too few workers in a state are suppressed by the BLS and are left blank. A dash means that occupation is not published for that state. Wages are reproduced as published; the ordering and the Diff column are ours.

4cHousing and property taxmeasured

What housing costs: Colorado and Rhode Island

Medians from the American Community Survey, 2020-2024 five-year estimates. Published marks a figure reproduced as it stands; Costely marks a ratio we worked out from those figures.

Measure COL RHO Diff
Median rent gross rent, per month as published $1,761 $1,342 -24%
Median home value owner-occupied homes as published $539,400 $404,200 -25%
Property tax median paid per year as published $2,602 $4,900 +88%
Effective property tax rate tax as a share of home value Costely calculation 0.48% 1.21% +152%
Median household income per year as published $95,470 $87,796 -8%
Home value against income years of median income to buy Costely calculation 5.6× 4.6× -18%
Owner costs mortgage, tax, insurance, utilities as published $1,820 $1,810 -1%
Rent against income median rent as a share of income as published 31.4% 29.2% -7%
Big electricity bills homes paying $250 a month or more Costely calculation 13% 21% +62%

A state with no income tax still has to raise money somewhere, and property tax is usually where. On the median home that is $2,602 a year in Colorado against $4,900 in Rhode Island — worth weighing against any difference in pay.

Note: Medians are for the whole state across the five years, not a current asking price. The effective property tax rate, the price-to-income ratio and the share of homes with a large electricity bill are worked out by us from the tables above. Rows marked as published are reproduced as they stand; the ratios, the difference column and the all-state average are ours.

Scorecard

The scorecard, category by category

A split table: Colorado wins 4, Rhode Island wins 4, 1 level. The widest gap is homicides per 100,000, 117%.

LineCOLRHOAhead
Homicides per 100,000 4.5 2.1 RHO 117%
Property tax, a year $2,602 $4,900 COL 88%
Electricity, per kWh 16.2¢ 29.5¢ COL 82%
Median home value $539,400 $404,200 RHO 33%
Median rent, a month $1,761 $1,342 RHO 31%
Household income, median $95,470 $87,796 COL 9%
Petrol, a gallon $3.14 $3.34 COL 6%
Everyday goods level 98.7 97.2 RHO 2%
Overall price level 103.1 102.3 level

Lower wins for prices and homicides, higher for income. Lines within 2% count as level.

4bEnergy pricesmeasured

Electricity, gas and petrol prices: Colorado and Rhode Island

Retail prices as published. Every row carries its own mark: Published where the figure is reproduced as it stands, Costely where we converted or worked it out ourselves.

Measure COL RHO Diff
Electricity cents per kWh as published May 2026 16.16¢ 29.46¢ +82%
Natural gas dollars per thousand cubic feet as published May 2026 $11.92 $16.06 +35%
Petrol dollars per gallon Costely conversion 2024 $3.14 $3.34 +6%

Note: Electricity and gas prices are monthly and are shown as published. Where a state has not yet reported the latest month, the most recent month it did report is used and named on the card. Petrol is published per million Btu for every state, so the price per gallon is our own conversion at the EIA factor of 5.053 million Btu per 42-gallon barrel; the EIA publishes a price per gallon only for a handful of states. Rows marked as published are reproduced as they stand; the conversion to a price per gallon, the difference column and the all-state average are our own.

3Climate · state capitals

Weather and climate: Colorado against Rhode Island, month by month

How warm and how wet each month is, averaged over twenty years. Measured in Denver and Providence — the capital city, not the whole state.

Pinch with two fingers to zoom · double-tap to reset.

Denver · Colorado Providence · Rhode Island

Warmest

July in both — 22.3° vs 22.9°

Coldest

December (-2.1°) vs January (-2.7°)

Kinder months to visit

Jun–Sep in Denver · Jun–Sep in Providence

“Kinder months” is our own reading: a mean of 15–26 °C with moderate rain, measured at the capital.

6bSimilar statesprice parity

States priced like these

The closest states by overall price level, with the gap against each side of this pair. Every row opens a full comparison.

Neighbours are ranked by distance in the overall price parity; the percentage is the gap in that parity, our own calculation.

6Reader verdict

Your call — which one fits you better?

Tap an option — your anonymous vote counts instantly.

10bPlan your move

Which one suits you?

Fill in your situation — we score this pair against your numbers, then check the other 81 countries for a better fit.

Languages you speak

Guidance from published statistics, not immigration or financial advice — see the disclaimer.

7Sources & licences

Every figure, traceable

Our calculations, not official figures.

Sources: BEA Regional Price Parities · BLS Current Employment Statistics · U.S. Census Bureau · U.S. Energy Information Administration · BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics · BLS Average Price Data · FBI Crime Data Explorer · NASA POWER · U.S. Energy Information Administration · release v2026-08

Regional price parities

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis · Regional Price Parities by state, table SARPP · reference year 2024, released February 2026 · bea.gov · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. Parities are reproduced as published, with the U.S. average set to 100 by the source itself. Gaps, rankings and the “cheaper side” wording are Costely calculations. Note: the BEA does not endorse this site.

Grocery prices

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Average Price Data, Consumer Price Index programme, U.S. city average · retrieved 15 August 2026 via the BLS Public Data API · bls.gov/cpi · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. The U.S. column reproduces the measured price as published. Note: the BLS does not publish grocery prices by state; the state columns are Costely estimates — the national price multiplied by the state's BEA goods parity — and are labelled as such on the page. Fuel and household energy are excluded from that method deliberately, because goods parity does not describe them. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. The BLS emblem is not used and the BLS does not endorse this site.

Housing and property tax

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau. Rights holder: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey, 5-year estimates, 2020-2024 five-year estimates, retrieved 17 August 2026 via the Census Bureau Data API · census.gov/data/developers · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. Tables: B25064 median gross rent; B25077 median value of owner-occupied homes; B25103 median real estate taxes paid; B19013 median household income; B25088 median selected monthly owner costs; B25071 median gross rent as a share of household income; B25132 monthly electricity costs. Figures are reproduced as published and are never altered while still being attributed to the Census Bureau; the effective tax rate, the price-to-income ratio, the share of homes with a large electricity bill, the difference column and the all-state average are Costely calculations. Note: Medians are for the whole state across the five years, not a current asking price. The effective property tax rate, the price-to-income ratio and the share of homes with a large electricity bill are worked out by us from the tables above. No attempt is made to identify any individual respondent, and no Census media assets are used.

Energy prices

Rights holder: U.S. Energy Information Administration · residential electricity, residential natural gas and motor gasoline prices, published August 2026, retrieved 15 August 2026 via the EIA API v2 · series: electricity — Electric Power Monthly, retail sales of electricity, residential sector, cents per kilowatt-hour; natural gas — Natural Gas Monthly, price of natural gas delivered to residential consumers, dollars per thousand cubic feet; petrol — State Energy Data System, motor gasoline price in the transportation sector, dollars per million Btu · eia.gov/opendata · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially, with the EIA cited as the source and the publication date given. Electricity and natural gas are reproduced as published. Note: Electricity and gas prices are monthly and are shown as published. Where a state has not yet reported the latest month, the most recent month it did report is used and named on the card. Petrol is published per million Btu for every state, so the price per gallon is our own conversion at the EIA factor of 5.053 million Btu per 42-gallon barrel; the EIA publishes a price per gallon only for a handful of states. The difference column and the all-state average are Costely calculations and are not EIA publications. The EIA emblem is trademarked and is not used here, and nothing on this site implies EIA endorsement or approval.

Pay by occupation

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — annual median wage, all industries, statewide, series datatype 13 · May 2025, retrieved 15 August 2026 via the BLS Public Data API · bls.gov/oes · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially, with the BLS cited as the source. Wages are reproduced as published; the ordering of rows and the difference column are Costely calculations. Note: these are medians for all workers in an occupation across a whole state, before tax and before any adjustment for local prices. Estimates are medians for all workers in the occupation statewide, produced by a model-based method using three years of survey data and the 2018 SOC. Occupations with too few workers in a state are suppressed by the BLS and are left blank. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. The BLS emblem is not used and the BLS does not endorse this site.

Private-sector pay

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages — average weekly wage, private ownership, aggregation level 51 statewide · 2025 Q4, retrieved 20 August 2026 via the QCEW open data files · bls.gov/cew · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. Weekly wages are reproduced as published; monthly figures and the price adjustment are Costely calculations. Note: these are averages, not medians, and cover only employment covered by unemployment insurance. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. The BLS emblem is not used and the BLS does not endorse this site.

Retail energy prices

Rights holder: U.S. Energy Information Administration (August 2026) · motor gasoline, residential electricity and residential natural gas by state · retrieved 15 August 2026 · eia.gov · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. Prices are reproduced as published; the comparison against the average across states is a Costely calculation. Note: the EIA logo is a registered trademark and is not used here; the EIA does not endorse this site.

Earnings and hours worked

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Current Employment Statistics, State and Metro Area — average hourly earnings and average weekly hours, total private · series SMU..000000500000003 and SMU..000000500000002 · June 2026, retrieved 13 August 2026 via the BLS Public Data API · bls.gov/sae · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. Monthly totals, the price-adjusted column and the year-on-year change are Costely calculations. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. Note: the BLS emblem is not used and the BLS does not endorse this site.

Unemployment rate

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Local Area Unemployment Statistics · series LAUST..0000000000003, seasonally adjusted · June 2026, retrieved 13 August 2026 · bls.gov/lau · public domain. Rates are reproduced as published; the comparison between states is ours. Note: the most recent months are preliminary and revised later by the BLS.

Monthly temperature and rainfall

Rights holder: NASA Langley Research Center · POWER Project, MERRA-2 monthly climatology, T2M and PRECTOTCORR · averaging period January 2001 – December 2020 · retrieved 13 August 2026 · power.larc.nasa.gov · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. Each figure is the model grid cell containing the state capital, reproduced as published. Note: a state capital is not the whole state, and the “kinder months to visit” band is a Costely reading, not a NASA recommendation.

Homicide rate and safety score

Rights holder: Federal Bureau of Investigation · Crime Data Explorer, Uniform Crime Reporting — summarized homicide offence rate per 100,000 population · reference year 2024 (2022 where a state has not yet reported a full year) · retrieved 14 August 2026 · cde.ucr.cjis.gov · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. The 0–100 score is a Costely transformation, clamp(105 − 20·ln(1 + rate), 0, 100), the same formula we apply to countries. Note: reporting to the FBI is voluntary, so agency coverage varies by state and year; the score measures homicide only and is not an official safety rating. The FBI does not endorse this site.