Colorado features some of the best outdoor recreation in the world, but if you're tied to a desk, it's impossible to enjoy the beauty and the possibilities of this great state. To optimize the Colorado experience, you need the right work-life balance. Here are the top Colorado cities for work-life balance:
Source: wikimedia.org
Boulder has been a beacon of liberal values and hippie culture for decades, and the community still reflects those values. Residents work hard, but they also embrace the joie de vivre. In 2013, Boulder was named one of the best cities in the nation in terms of work-life balance, and the qualities that made it a winner in 2013, continue to endure today.
Living in Boulder costs about 50 percent more than the average cost of living in the United States, but luckily, residents earn more than average -- as of 2014, the median household income in Boulder was over $70,000. Housing accounts for the majority of the living expenses in Boulder, but on average, residents who already own a home spend $1,500 per month on housing costs if they have a mortgage and only $457 if they don't have a mortgage. These residents are also building equity as the housing market in the area is growing quickly.
The city's employers enthusiastically recognize the need for work-life balance, and they tend to offer employees free time, great perks and positive environments. In fact, in its list of the best 100 employers in the country, Outside Magazine included several Boulder companies including TDA_ Boulder, Pellucid Analytics, TeamSnap, Cloud 9 Living, Peaksware, VictorOps, Sterling-Rice Group, Slice of Lime, Namaste Solar, Tendril, SolidFire, Avid4Adventure, Brewers Association, Mondo Robot and Sphero.
Regardless of where they work Boulderites spend an average of 19 minutes commuting, and many of them do it on their bicycles. The town's rate of cycle commuting is 17 times higher than the national average.
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Fort Collins is at the heart of a light industrial and technology boom spreading across the northern part of Colorado. The town has over 7,000 employers, and they include Hewlett Packard, AMD, Intel, OtterBox and several other tech, science and research companies. Its breweries also provide fun careers to everyone, from engineers, to brewers, to chefs. The New Belgium Brewery, maker of Fat Tire, even snagged a spot on Outside's list of top employers, and according to Forbes, Fort Collins is one of the top ten places to do business in the nation.
However, it's not all work and no play. Residents of this town are committed to fun on the evenings and weekends, they flock to Old Town for fine dining, free music and great people watching, or they head to the mountains or nearby Horsetooth Reservoir for hiking, river rafting and other outdoor fun.
Fort Collins has an average cost of living, and the median household income is $61,000, higher than the national average. Established residents pay $1,500 per month on average for housing if they have a mortgage and only $415 per month if they own their home outright. The average commute is just 19 minutes, although as the town becomes more populated that number is slowly increasing. Luckily, a massive network of bicycle trails makes it possible to get almost anywhere quickly with pedal power.
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Castle Rock boasts the highest median family income of all other Colorado cities -- $101,000. This number is substantially higher than the national average, but surprisingly, the cost of living in Castle Rock is only 13 percent higher than the national average. As a result, residents have change to spare.
They also have time. The average commute in this town is 28 minutes, and residents can even commute all the way to Denver in approximately 42 minutes. Only 6 percent of the residents in Castle Rock fall below the poverty line, and nearly 75 percent own their own homes. On average these residents spend just under $2,000 a month on housing costs if they have a mortgage and only $466 if they don't have a mortgage.
With their extra cash and the time they save on commuting, residents of Castle Rock enjoy outdoor living, but they are also very committed to their schools. The Castle Rock schools are considered to be some of the best in Colorado, and they host everything, from lacrosse games, to stage plays, to carnivals to keep the kids busy and the adults entertained.
Source: wikimedia.org
Alamosa doesn't have the high median income numbers of the other Colorado cities on this list, but it still offers an amazing work-life balance for the 10,000 residents of this little town. Alamosa sits in the southern part of the state on a large mountain plain. A third of the town's residents attend the local college, Adams State University, and the school is one of the strongest employers in the area as well.
The median household income is only $26,000, but living costs are low as well. Residents with a mortgage on their homes spend less than $1,000 per month on housing while residents with paid off mortgages spend only $350.
Getting across town is simple, and residents have an average commute of 11 minutes. The town is surrounded by gorgeous snow capped mountains, and it's just a short drive from the towering sand dunes of Colorado.
