According to the annual “Out of Reach” report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), “full-time workers need to earn $36.44 per hour to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent in Colorado.” As of 2026, the minimum wage in Colorado is $15.36 an hour for workers who don’t receive tips, and $12.14 an hour for workers who do.
NLIHC is a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that “is dedicated to achieving racially and socially equitable public policy that ensures people with the lowest incomes have quality homes that are accessible and affordable in communities of their choice,” according to its website. For the past 35 years, it has released the ‘Out of Reach’ report which “documents the gulf between wages and what people need to earn to afford their rents. The report routinely shows that affordable rental homes remain out of reach for millions of low-wage workers and their families.”
The report’s data on Colorado was summarized and promoted by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH), which works “collaboratively toward the prevention of homelessness and the creation of lasting solutions for people experiencing and at-risk of homelessness throughout Colorado,” according to the group’s website.
The “Out of Reach” report ranked Colorado as the 12th least affordable state in the U.S. as of 2026, and other sources place that number higher.
The Bell Policy Center, a Colorado non-profit focused on providing “reliable research and advocacy to raise the economic floor and create a policy agenda that helps Colorado families and communities thrive,” reported last year that the heightened housing costs in Colorado are due to “a mismatch between the new supply and what people can afford” after the 2008 financial crisis. It further explained how “Colorado underbuilt for years after the Great Recession, falling behind the pace of population growth,” which was coupled with the fact that most of the newer construction projects were designed and priced as higher-end rentals, which did not provide options for people looking for lower rents.
The Bell Policy Center further cites that Colorado’s current zoning and permitting laws create obstacles that make it challenging to build smaller or cheaper homes.
The impacts of these factors are backed by the results of the ‘Out of Reach’ report, which also included its own explanation for the affordability crisis.
“In Colorado, American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, Proposition 123 funding, an increase to the State’s Affordable Housing Tax Credit, and other efforts should have paved the way to make progress against this prevailing disparity. But with this year’s strained state budget, allocations for affordable housing were cut significantly to help make ends meet in other areas of Colorado’s work. Further, it appears that state housing funding has been working primarily to address housing needs for middle- and higher-income earners rather than those at the lowest incomes and with the greatest needs,” said CCH in its statement on the report.
The report also cited a list of the most expensive areas within Colorado, which “include Summit County, Eagle County, Pitkin County, Boulder Metro Statistical Area (MSA), and the Denver/Aurora/Centennial Metro Statistical Area (MSA).”
One policy win highlighted by the “Out of Reach” report was when “the landmark, bipartisan, 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act package became law on July 11.”
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, “the law requires new and expanded federal programs, regulatory changes, new studies and reports to Congress, and coordination across agencies. Most of that work falls to HUD, which must implement dozens of statutory directives—many with tight deadlines—with limited staff capacity. Full implementation could take years.” The law is expected to lay the foundation to build sustainable solutions, rather than offering a quick fix to the issue.
The Denver Post explained how “the ROAD Act will make it easier for state housing finance agencies, like the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA), to pair federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) with state-backed debt funds.”
The Post additionally reported that “the ROAD Act also provides the regulatory relief that the real estate industry argues is critical. The National Association of Home Builders estimates that government regulations, from local to federal, add nearly 25% to the cost of single-family and 40% to the cost of multifamily developments. The ROAD Act tries to soften costs by providing exemptions under the National Environmental Policy Act for infill housing, small developments with 15 or fewer units, and property acquisitions dedicated to affordable housing.”
The report additionally mentioned legislation passed this year, “including HB26-1001 Housing Opportunities Made Easier (HOME) Act and HB26-1202, Strategy to Reduce and Prevent Homelessness,” which CCH expects to provide some relief on the strained housing market. The legislation focuses on streamlining permitting to make it cheaper to develop homes, and on homelessness prevention planning.
