Moving from Colorado to Missouri
Everyone compares rent and groceries. Almost nobody compares the two numbers that actually decide whether a move works: state income tax and property tax. Here is Colorado and Missouri, side by side.
Moving to Missouri costs about
-$760/mo
less than Colorado each month, renting
Worth knowing
The move pays for itself in about 4 months
Moving costs somewhere around $2,522, and Missouri runs about $760 a month cheaper. After roughly 4 months you are ahead.
Colorado vs Missouri at a glance
| Colorado | Missouri | |
|---|---|---|
| Median home price | $539,400 | $230,300 |
| Median rent | $1,761/mo | $1,033/mo |
| State income tax | Flat 4.40% | Up to 4.70% |
| Property tax rate | 0.48% | 0.85% |
| Groceries, gas & goods | 99 | 96 |
| Utilities | 85 | 79 |
Price levels are indexes where 100 is the national average. They cover everyday spending only; housing is the two rows above.
What changes each month
| Monthly | CO | MO | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | |||
| Housing (median rent)Biggest factor | $1,761 | $1,033 | -$728 |
| Taxes | |||
| State income tax | $234 | $235 | +$1 |
| Local income tax (state average) | None | $15 | +$15 |
| Sales tax (on everyday spending) | $43 | $60 | +$17 |
| Everyday costs | |||
| Groceries, gas & goods | $1,810 | $1,765 | -$45 |
| Utilities | $347 | $324 | -$23 |
| Total | -$760 | ||
What the move itself costs
$2,100 to $4,800
From a container you load yourself up to full-service movers.
Shipping one car adds about $600 to $900, against roughly $250 in fuel and lodging to drive it the 2-day trip yourself.
These are statewide figures. Denver is not Colorado-average and St. Louis is not Missouri-average, so a specific city can look nothing like its state. Compare metro areas instead to narrow it to 387 real places, including which side of a state line you would live on.
Run this with your own numbers
Estimates only, not advice. Housing and income figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (2024); price levels from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024); tax rates are for the 2026 tax year, compiled from state revenue departments and the Tax Foundation. Moving costs are modelled from published ranges rather than quoted. Every figure is a statewide median or average and will not match any particular household.