Denver metro residents spending more to live in suburbs, report finds

The Denver Metro is one of the hottest housing markets in the country, but it’s bucking national trends when it comes to where people are spending their money.

In most of the country, people spend almost $9,000 more to live in the city, but in the Denver Metro, homes in the suburbs are actually in higher demand and are more expensive.

Zillow and Care.com crunched the numbers in several key areas to come up with the findings.

“We picked this area mainly because of the school district. My husband and I are able to work from home so we had the flexibility,” said Aurora resident Nicole Leininger.

Aurora is Denver’s biggest suburb and one of the largest cities in Colorado.

“I think people spend more to live in the suburbs because it’s all about the kids and families to have the pools, the rec centers, here there’s more space. In town it’s just building after building after building,” Leininger said.

Leininger is also a real estate agent and says those HOA and activities fees can add up.  

Zillow and Care.com compared childcare costs, property taxes, and mortgage payments and found out people pay about $300 more a month to live in the suburbs.

That adds up to an extra $3,600 every year.

Denver’s suburban homes are typically more than 400 square feet larger than urban homes, but Highlands resident John Damiano doesn’t care.  

“I really like the idea of community and density, and everything is walkable,” Damiano said.

Damiano is raising his family in town in the Highlands neighborhood after spending almost two decades here.

“If you look at Denver versus other cities that have been around for a long time it’s actually really economical to live in Denver versus going to a Portland or Seattle, or Boston. So it seems like a great place to live,” Damiano said.

Urban or suburban, people in the Denver Metro should expect to spend more than $62,000 a year on housing and child care.

Cities with the most expensive urban living compared to the 'burbs are New York, Chicago and Dallas, where people spend an extra $6,000 a month to live in the city.