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To my knowledge, 2011 is about the latest data that is solid. Reported here: http://taxfoundation.org/sites/defau...res%202014.pdf
Colorado was 19th on state and local taxes paid per capita. The way 2007-8 hit states and the way they reacted to it surely affected movement from the 2004 data previously cited.
2014 data will probably be available sometime in 2016.
There are different ways to slice things. This article shows Colorado in 2011 as only 32nd on state and local taxes as a percent of income. Annual State-Local Tax Burden Ranking FY 2011 | Tax Foundation That 19th rank above was higher heavily because Colorado's income per capita was higher, 10th in 2011 I recall.
Tax Foundation was criticized in past for methodology and many changes in reported amounts over time. I'd hope it has gotten better but haven't studied it closely. Census Bureau data directly is probably better but I had trouble getting it to display on my phone to check it so I went with this.
There is another issue with taxes paid by state residents to other states. There is some discussion and data about that in the link in this post. Colorado residents pay among the highest amounts to other states. Part-time residents, folks who travel for work, the story gets complicated.
Mike's data is very different because it included only state tax and doesn't include local taxes. It appears that Coloradoans have taxed themselves more at the local level than most other states. Different ways to divide up responsibilities but local governments and the people who elect them have a lot of input on this, not just "the state".
The national average is that 9.8% of state income goes to support state and local government services. It ranges from 6.9% to 12.6%, or about plus or minus 3% from the average. At 9.0% Colorado's state and local tax rate is more than 20% less than California, a little less than "conservative" / "tax-averse" Florida and barely above Arizona and Georgia. No personal income tax in Washington but overall tax rate is about 5% higher than Colorado (if you shop in WA and pay sales tax, register vehicles there and otherwise abide by the tax laws). About 5% higher in Idaho and Utah too. Guess those states are ruined by big spending liberals worse than Colorado? Either that or maybe Colorado is "saved" by its productivity / wages in spite of the critique of each from some. And / or "saved" by TABOR. Different ways to slap a narrative over the data.
Move to Nebraska or Kansas from Colorado? On average your state and local tax payments will go up by about 5%. Of course it can vary by income, property holdings, numbers of vehicles and other factors.
Thanks NW Crow for the links and updates to more recent and accurate information. I kind of winced when I saw that we were referencing stale data (2004, 11 years ago). A lot can obviously change over time. Then, there's the whole matter of how the data was compiled in the first place; a good reason so be suspicious of lists and "statistics" in general.
I love hearing the negatives because I can weight them against the negatives in my own town. We are in Chicago, and debating whether to buy a house here or move out to Boulder. So far, all the negatives in these thread are nothing compared to the negatives in Chicago or any major cities.
Nothing to do - hard to believe anyone would say this is a negative for Colorado. Maybe they are referring to lack of night life in smaller cities / towns?
Terrible Schools - Chicago Public School system is one of the worst in the country so the schools in Colorado can't be worst. Plus, we dont have kids so we rather save money by moving to a neighborhood where the house prices are not inflated by great schools.
Crime - Chicago is notorious for gangs and shootings and homicides so don't think it can get any worst.
No jobs - This is the only major negative that affects us. I am a software engineer, and Chicago tech community is booming. But as long as people secure a job before moving to Colorado, this shouldn't be a huge deal.
Cost of Living - Chicago has the highest sales tax in the country and ranks in top 5 highest property tax. For a $500k house, you are looking at $10-12k property tax a year. That's $1k a month into property tax; it's like paying a 2nd mortgage for eternity. We even get taxed for internet entertainment like Netflix and Spotify.
So all in all, the negatives mentioned in this thread are not so negative when compared to where we are now.
As a Chicagoan, who has been to Colorado 2x in the last 2 months to scout relocation locations, the negatives most people moan about on this board are vast improvements to what goes on in our neck of the woods.
I'd glady take those over what my family and I deal with now, and I'd rather deal with Colorado issues, at least I don't have to worry as much about some of the issues ninjamyst listed above. Colorado is fantastic I really love the area and the people. Have had great times in my visits.
Lived in the front range for years. It was paradise at the time. Will probably be the best years of my life.
Postives: a million things to do. You have to love the outdoors to love CO. Ski, mountain bike, camp, drive in the mountains, float rivers. Beautiful weather in the winter. A lot of sunshine. I was active everyday. The cost of living was very cheap. I lived in Boulder so no religious nuts. Boulder is a very different part of the state though. It's its own little utopia. A lot of open space in CO. Mary Jane is acceptable. I only witness petty crime.
Negatives: too much crappy tract housing development popping up all over the place. I mean the ugliest, cheapest, most poorly developed condos you've ever seen. They are ruining the front range. Never ending sprawling suburbia. No character, no identity, just crap.
Pine beetles are ruining the forests. The last time I was there it blew my mind how much worse it got. It's going to lead to more and more fires. If you live in the high country, long winters can be a negative. Up there it's winter forever, snow in September sometimes. I preferred living down on the front range. Much better weather and you can always hop in the car to enjoy the mountains. Better paying jobs down there too. Not many decent jobs in resort towns.
The state is getting more and more crowded with people fleeing CA's nonsense and the pot heads moving in. Californians are not a friendly bunch. Traffic on I70 was bad when I was there but nothing like a major east coast city. I thought a lot of the transplants were annoying; they always came from fast paced or populated areas. A lot of them had the attitude that I was trying to escape from. I always got along well with the people from there. Very laid back and outgoing.
All in all CO is one of the best states. Although, I think that it's progressively just becoming more like CA. It's one of those tragedy of the commons problems. It's so beautiful and anyone can come. Eventually they will have a million laws regulating everything to hell like CA. Costs will go up, etc, etc. I'm glad that I got to experience it when I did. It still has a lot going for it but it hurts me to watch how things are changing for the worse.
Btw, anyone thinking about moving to Boulder. Don't even consider it unless you are a college student. You will feel out of place. The college dominates the city.
So much valuable information in this one thread alone.
Even though I just started lurking around these boards. There actually seems to be more positive than negative, although it is nice to hear the negatives, but the positives everyone has experienced and posted are also great to read.
The Boulder, Denver, Longmont, etc area appears to have lots going on for families, and that is what is drawing me and my wife to possibly move to Colorado. Where we are located there are 4 summer events. Any other things to do is roughly a 3-4 hour drive and even then there is not that much (Alaska).
IF you want to go hiking here, you have to drive an hour away at least. Snow machining is another hour away. All outdoor stuff here, which is fine and dandy, but there is not enough to do with my wife and kids. We have two crappy movie theaters that are very expensive, three parks for the kids to play around that are hit and miss if other kids will be there. There is a Walmart and Freddy's to walk around, and that is about it. Although, we do have a local "jump" house with an arcade for the kids and the price is very reasonable with lots of children.
When I looked up things to do in Denver I was astonished! My wife has family in the Longmont area, and that is a major plus, her brother live 3.5 hour north in Wyoming (he just moved there). He can be a bit troubled, but has a heart of gold and very family oriented. Our family up here just fell apart and disowned everyone, all because we couldn't make a cousins wedding. Wife was in auto accident and the drive to Anchorage would have been rough. Her mother would follow us down, and so would my sister, mom and best friend. They always seem to move where ever I go. Heck, my side of of the family and best friend are very close, enough-so that no matter where I move they usually follow within 1-2 years. Very blessed!
So as you can see, Colorado would be a great choice; Alaska school systems are far worst than anything down there other than perhaps safety.
Yes, housing is expensive in Colorado, but not much more than Alaska. Gas and groceries are far more expensive here as well. Plus, add in the commute to do anything and other housing expenses such as natural gas which can run around $600-800 a month on average for heating.
Colorado is looking pretty darn nice to be honest.
Lived in the front range for years. It was paradise at the time. Will probably be the best years of my life.
Postives: a million things to do. You have to love the outdoors to love CO. Ski, mountain bike, camp, drive in the mountains, float rivers. Beautiful weather in the winter. A lot of sunshine. I was active everyday. The cost of living was very cheap. I lived in Boulder so no religious nuts. Boulder is a very different part of the state though. It's its own little utopia. A lot of open space in CO. Mary Jane is acceptable. I only witness petty crime.
Negatives: too much crappy tract housing development popping up all over the place. I mean the ugliest, cheapest, most poorly developed condos you've ever seen. They are ruining the front range. Never ending sprawling suburbia. No character, no identity, just crap.
Pine beetles are ruining the forests. The last time I was there it blew my mind how much worse it got. It's going to lead to more and more fires. If you live in the high country, long winters can be a negative. Up there it's winter forever, snow in September sometimes. I preferred living down on the front range. Much better weather and you can always hop in the car to enjoy the mountains. Better paying jobs down there too. Not many decent jobs in resort towns.
The state is getting more and more crowded with people fleeing CA's nonsense and the pot heads moving in. Californians are not a friendly bunch. Traffic on I70 was bad when I was there but nothing like a major east coast city. I thought a lot of the transplants were annoying; they always came from fast paced or populated areas. A lot of them had the attitude that I was trying to escape from. I always got along well with the people from there. Very laid back and outgoing.
All in all CO is one of the best states. Although, I think that it's progressively just becoming more like CA. It's one of those tragedy of the commons problems. It's so beautiful and anyone can come. Eventually they will have a million laws regulating everything to hell like CA. Costs will go up, etc, etc. I'm glad that I got to experience it when I did. It still has a lot going for it but it hurts me to watch how things are changing for the worse.
Btw, anyone thinking about moving to Boulder. Don't even consider it unless you are a college student. You will feel out of place. The college dominates the city.
This could have been written 30 years ago. At least some things haven't changed. Just more people I guess.
IF you want to go hiking here, you have to drive an hour away at least. Snow machining is another hour away. All outdoor stuff here, which is fine and dandy, but there is not enough to do with my wife and kids.
Unfortunately, if you head up 1-2 hours into the mountains on the weekends, you will be faced with 3-5 hours worth a 25-50 mph commute back in to Denver on Sunday afternoon because of the traffic on I70.
Good news is there is a fair amount of walking trails within and on the fringe of Denver as well as most of communities.
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This could have been written 30 years ago. At least some things haven't changed. Just more people I guess.
