
Denver City Guide
20/04/2023
With more than 5,000 acres of parkland, many of Denver's most prominent neighborhoods are built around and named after such beloved green spaces as Washington Park, City Park, Cheesman Park and Sloan's Lake Park. The metro area's proximity to the Rocky Mountains also creates numerous opportunities for residents to ski and snowboard in the winter. On top of this, Denver is home to a flourishing art and music scene.
There are around 150 breweries in metro Denver and the sudsy area is host to the annual Great American Beer Festival that showcases more than 4,000 beers from more than 800 breweries around the country.
If we were to give you three tips for living and working in Denver, Colorado, they would be:
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Take sunscreen – this Colorado city gets more than 300 days of sunshine a year.
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Pack your snow boots – the city gets more than 50 inches of snow a year and this often falls all at the same time.
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Prepare for some great food.
Piqued your interest? Thought so. But the success of Denver’s business scene isn’t down to the dream-like climate. It’s down to the tax incentives, the growing infrastructure and the collaborative environment that the City of Denver has cultivated. In the last 10 years, Denver’s tech industry has added around 42,600 new jobs to the industry – that’s a 52.5% increase. Denver’s start up, scale up, grow up entrepreneurship ecosystem attracts a wide variety of businesses.
Unlike other technology hubs such as San Francisco Bay and Austin, Texas, the area isn’t entirely dominated by technology businesses. There are as many other startups, such as microbreweries and app designers, as there are technology manufacturers.
Housing
The median price for a home in Denver is $426,200 – much higher than house prices elsewhere in Colorado, and 84% higher than the average US house price. And, with the majestic mountain scenery, it’s no wonder house prices are so high.
Renting an apartment in the centre of Denver, Colorado costs around $1,843.75 whereas, if you’re happy to perch on the outskirts, you can save around 16% on the cost of renting.
Denver neighbourhoods are extremely diverse, and so is the amount that owning a house can cost you. If you live alone, the cost of living in Denver Colorado is around $2,061 per month. This more than doubles to $4,703 for a family of four, which places Denver in the top 4% of the most expensive cities in the world.
UK’s visa requirements to work in Denver, Colorado
You’ll need a full US working visa if you’re planning to live and work in Denver, Colorado. The type of visa you need will be dependent on your own situation: where you’re from, how long you are staying, the type of work you will be doing. You can find out more about the visa you need here.
The Cost of Living in Denver
Denver is an expensive place to live. A meal for two in Denver will cost you around $70.00, but a McDonalds or equivalent fast-food meal will only set you back a much more reasonable $9.75. A domestic draught beer costs around $6.25 for 0.5 litres, whilst an imported beer is likely to cost around $7 for a .33 litre bottle.
A loaf of bread costs a rather steep $4.05 but you can pick up a litre of milk for around $1. If you’re into baking, or if you just like to start your day with an egg, sunny side up, a dozen will cost around $2.81.
Salaries in Denver
In Denver, whilst living costs are high, salaries are fairly generous too. A software engineer in Denver is typically paid around $105,702, with maximum salaries topping out at $205,000. A technical product manager based in Denver could be looking at earnings of up to $150,000, but a more typical salary for this role would be around $87,000.
A data architect is likely to command a salary of $154,000 but could earn as much as $205,000.
Commuting and Public Transport
Getting around Denver is relatively easy. In fact, its public transport system is widely considered to be one of the most efficient systems in the country. There’s an RTD rail system made up of a network of 50 stations and served by both light and commuter rail lines. Many of the RTD stations offer free park and ride car parks, making it easy to get in and out of central Denver without getting snarled up in traffic.
However, it’s easy enough to walk, cycle or take the bus in and around Denver. If you do wish to travel by bus, you’ll need to make sure you have the right change as drivers don’t give change. If you plan to travel by bus regularly you may find it easier to buy tickets or a bus pass in advance to save scrabbling around to find loose change each morning.
Schools
Colorado is very proud of its education system. In recent years, the city has been awarded #2 in the USA for Educational Attainment, #5 Most Educated State and #1 Best College Town. It has 470 public, private and occupational higher education institutions and 19 four-year colleges and universities.
Colorado state provides a public school system (like the British state school system) which is free for all children from 3 years to 12th grade (18 years).
Families can request students attend any public school in Colorado for free. They can choose from district-run schools where the school is overseen by a district school board, innovation schools, where the schools have a certain degree of flexibility over and above district schools, and ‘magnet’ or ‘option’ schools, which have a specific focus such as arts or science. It’s fairly common for schools to run lotteries to choose which students get a place, however, on occasion, magnet schools may hold auditions.
There are private school options too, which typically cost around $10,119 per year. But some private schools do advertise fees as low as $2,000.
Global Companies in Denver
Colorado already has a thriving martech and HRtech industry and 60 of the largest tech companies in Silicon Valley [link to Silicon Valley City Guide] have set up offices in Denver. Some of these that have chosed to set up offices at altitude include: Adobe, Marketo and Hubspot, Gusto, Workday and Zendesk,Crowdstrike, Otka, Palo Alto Networks and Proofpoint, Uber, Instacart, Lyft, Airbnb, Robinhood, and Twitch.
In fact, it’s probably easier to list those companies that don’t have a presence in Denver, than it is to list those that do! You can find a full list of the 60 top tech companies with a presence in Colorado here at Access Ventures.
Out of the Office
First stop for anyone wanting to see Denver has to be a visit to the Rocky Mountain National Park. From picturesque meadows to glistening alpine lakes and towering mountain peaks, the Rocky Mountain National Park will take your breath away with its beauty and splendour. The park covers 415 square miles and offers over 300 miles of hiking trails where you can get up-close and personal with the wildlife. You can visit Pikes Peak with its dominating red rocks, home to 100 Bighorn sheep and a dinosaur discovered in 1878 and Garden of the Gods.
There’s the Red Rocks Amphitheatre to check out with regular music concerts or, if you’re more into seeing animals from the safety of paved footpaths, there’s the Denver Zoo and the Downtown Aquarium.
If sport is your thing, you’ll be spoiled for choice as Denver is also home to the Mile High Stadium and the Denver Broncos, the Colorado Rockies baseball team, and has strong representation in Basketball, baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse, hockey and rugby.
If you would like to discuss opportunities in Denver or a potential career move, please contact us at enquiry@ic-resources.com
Additional sources:
2022 Data Architect Salary in Colorado (Updated Daily) | Built In Colorado
Property Prices in Denver, CO. Price per square feets/square meters in Denver (numbeo.com)
Denver Public Transportation How-to | VISIT DENVER
Colorado Education | Highly Ranked | OEDIT (choosecolorado.com)