A college town and an eco-centric cultural epicenter, Boulder is the sunny, independent spirit of Colorado’s Front Range. This Rocky Mountain city may be on the smaller side compared to places like Denver, Aurora and Colorado Springs, but it has big-time amenities for a town of only 105,898.
The University of Colorado’s flagship, CU Boulder, is vital to the city for commerce and culture alike, and destinations like the Fiske Planetarium, the CU Art Museum and the CU Museum of Natural History make for fun, family-friendly outings. Downtown is chock-a-block with great restaurants and shops, from the artful Gemini in the Pearl Street Mall to Trident Booksellers & Café.
If the outdoors is your thing — and they really ought to be if you’re moving to Boulder — you’ll have endless means of adventure here in the shadow of the flatirons, from scaling those famous sandstone faces to snowshoeing at nature preserves or whizzing down the slopes at Eldora. When it’s not snowing in Boulder, it’s usually sunny and dry, so hiking, biking, fly fishing and camping can be a regular part of your downtime repertoire.
If you’re thinking of moving to Boulder for your career, you’ll find some of the biggest names in business, from Lockheed Martin to Google to Justin’s food company. Boulder’s job market is competitive, diverse and exciting, and wages are higher than you’ll find in the average American city. But living in the “Boulder bubble” comes at a cost — steeper than any trail in the region — so brace yourself for a rugged climb if you’re looking to buy a place downtown or in the surrounding Boulder County. The average home price in the city has almost reached $1 million, making it more expensive than either LA or NYC.
In this moving guide to Boulder, we’ll dive deep into this special Rocky Mountain metro, outlining the job and housing markets, educational opportunities and some of our favorite hangouts. If you are looking for a gorgeous, fun and laid-back city to call home, Boulder should be on your list.
The biggest attraction to Boulder is the biggest thing in Boulder — the Rocky Mountains — and Boulder residents will do almost anything to be outside enjoying them. Within Boulder County, you’ll find more than 120 miles of trails for hiking, biking and riding on horseback, plus many more trails and climbs in the surrounding region.
The Flatirons are Boulder’s claim to mountain fame. These sandstone outcroppings look almost smooth enough in the burning sun to press a shirt on. Mountaineers will enjoy climbing these steep, bald inclines, but you can easily enjoy them from the ground, too. Chautauqua Park is the base camp for the Flatiron range, and the wide, flat trails and open space for nature play are perfect for little ones to develop their outdoor independence.
Those looking for more of a challenge can try the Royal Arch Trail, which terminates in — you guessed it — a natural archway befitting the kings and queens of the trail, and the curved stone elegantly frames the impressive view from the top. You’ll find an even steeper learning curve on the short but exertive incline at Mount Sanitas, which, as its name suggests, can indeed restore your sanity, but only if your quads can take the grueling 1.3-mile trek to the summit. Boulder Falls is one of the most popular hikes for those looking for a water view.
Speaking of water, Eldorado Canyon State Park is a Boulder favorite for fly fishing, and what could be better after a long day outdoors than some pan-fried rainbow trout under the starry night sky? Eldorado’s cliffs also draw rock climbers from around the world. Routes start at 5.11, and it’s fun just to watch the daredevils from the safety of the ground.
Outside Boulder, some of the most beloved wilderness areas in the country await. Estes Park, the eastern entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, is only an hour’s drive away. As a permanent resident, it will be easier for you to visit the park outside the high season when there aren’t so many traffic jams on the trails. Closer to town, the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge is one of the best places to meet other residents of the Front Range, like prairie dogs, elk and long-eared owls. In the wintertime, strap on your snowshoes — yes, you own snowshoes now! — or rent a pair of cross-country skis and explore the tundra.
If you’re looking for faster-paced action during the coldest months, get your family a season pass to Eldora. In addition to traditional slopes, Eldora also has seven terrain parks with all the jibs, jumps, boxes and rails your half-piping crew needs to get through the Colorado winter.
In the warmer months, put that action on wheels at Valmont Bike Park. Forty-two acres of rugged dirt trails and obstacles await, including a slopestyle area, pump tracks and dual slalom areas.
Aerospace and bioscience, organic products and cleantech, outdoor recreation and gear manufacturers—the job market in Boulder is one of the most exciting in the country. Whether you want to design climbing gear for La Sportiva, spacecraft power systems for BAE or an even more superior peanut butter cup for Justin’s, Boulder has diverse job opportunities to offer new residents.
The nonfarm civilian workforce in the greater Boulder area now contains nearly 215,000 jobs, well-distributed across a diverse range of industries. The government and professional and business services sectors lead the pack — each employed more than 43,000 in October of 2024. Education and health services employs 28,400, an increase of 2.9% over the previous year, and trade, transportation and utilities employed 26,500. The leisure and hospitality and manufacturing sectors weren’t far behind— both employed upwards of 20,000 individuals. The overall performance of the job market was positive, holding the unemployment rate at 4.1%.
And while paychecks in the Boulder area are higher than the national average, the cost of living in Boulder isn’t cheap. The median household income in the city of Boulder is just above $85,000 — comparable to Fort Collins and Colorado Springs and slightly below Denver’s $92,000 average. From tech to tourism, mean hourly wages across the Boulder metro area are even rosier, with Boulderites earning $42/hour for every $32 the average American earns. But the median home value in Boulder is $982,600, which exceeds even the exorbitant prices in Los Angeles or New York City. Compared with the average American household, which brings in $78,538/year and expends just over $300K on a home, Boulderites sure pay more for life inside the bubble.
The price of real estate leaves many Boulder residents uncomfortably squeezed or priced out of the market altogether. The homeownership rate is only 48%, and nearly a quarter of all residents live below the poverty line. Renting won’t necessarily make life more affordable in Boulder, either, with the median now reaching a jaw-dropping $1,924/month. To address the housing crisis, the city has removed a cap on residential housing developments and is examining zoning laws to try and increase the number of affordable housing units.
Living in this 27-square-mile oasis of culture, commerce and nature can feel insular — it’s not hard to see why some people refer to it as “the Boulder bubble.” But this active, well-educated and eco-conscious city’s trappings are appealing, so it would be a shame to burst it.
First, the city has committed to a zero waste policy and has set a deadline of 2025 to divert 85% of waste from landfills. Composting is now a part of trash and recycling services, and you’ll find many backyards with their own tumblers for compostables the city can’t accept. If you want to grow your own veggies, you’ll be in good company in this semi-arid region. Hardy, short-season varieties are recommended by the CSU Extension Office in nearby Fort Collins. But if you don’t have the patience for drip irrigating your own rows of beets and kohlrabi, the Boulder Farmers Market will be your BFF. Everything here is Colorado-grown, and you can even shop online year-round.
With so many universities in the region, including CU Boulder, CU Denver, Colorado College, Naropa University and Colorado State University, and good public schools in the Boulder Valley School District, it’s no surprise that Boulder has high rates of educational achievement. 97% of city residents have graduated from high school and 77% of residents have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. The rates are also impressive in Boulder County.
Between the captive college students, the ravenous hikers and the hungry corporate workforce, Boulder delivers big on dining. After being dubbed America’s Foodiest Town 15 years ago, the city has doubled down on its cuisine, and you’ll find everything from vegan schnitzel to salmon aguachile here.
We’re partial to farm-to-table joints like River & Woods or Bramble & Hare, where humble ingredients like the oft-forgotten turnip are given a royal revisiting, tarted up with twists like pistachio tarator, pickled onions and prosciutto. Blackbelly is another inventive but unpretentious establishment, which, like Bramble, earned itself a Michelin green star for sustainable gastronomy. You cannot go wrong with their pan-seared Colorado chicken with “wrinkled crinkled cress,” but never leave here without at least one order of their sticky toffee pudding and buttermilk ice cream.
If you’re looking for Japanese non-traditional, try Osaka, where the heavenly takoyaki and kaisen okonomiyaki are what we want to eat on repeat all week long. Craving classic northern Mexican fare? Efrain’s has the happiest happy hour in town. Or maybe your friends are in town visiting again — get used to having a full house when you live in a city this fun — and you want an only-in-Boulder experience. Try a brew tour and sample the suds at Vision Quest, Twisted Pine and Upslope.
You’ll find many of your favorite spots are in the Pearl Street Mall —a pedestrian–only area downtown filled with great places to stop and shop. But there’s more to Boulder culture than just eating and drinking. In between meals, there are dozens of galleries, museums and historic sites to explore, with and without the kids.
At the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research or NCAR, kids get a hands-on look at the science behind weather and climate. Budding meteorologists can watch — and feel — a tornado from indoors. Sun-lovers can learn how CMEs cause the magnificent auroras that color the night sky. On the outdoor weather trail, Boulder residents can observe both the unappetizing “brown cloud” of pollution over Denver and the awe-striking lenticular clouds that often form in these mountain regions.
The Museum of Boulder is one of the most well-designed city museums we’ve visited. Three-dimensional exhibits bring Boulder’s history to life, from prehistoric times to the present day, and you’ll find everything from an X-ray machine to underpants in their collection!
Dinosaur devotees will enjoy taking a trip back in time to the Florissant Fossil Beds — like, 34 million years back. You can observe nature, both new and old here, where pointy-eared squirrels clamber over the ossified memory of ancient flora and fauna. If you had built a treehouse in that now-petrified 14-foot-wide redwood on view, you could imagine the pterosaurs who might have landed on your lofty perch, looking for snacks like tasty humans. Better hang a bird feeder in the opposite redwood, just to be safe.
Boulder is also a highly creative city, and when you’re running low on inspo, BMoCA — the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art — and the University of Colorado Art Museum can rejuvenate your trail-weary spirits. At CU, you’ll find everything from ancient coins to cheeky Chagoyas, and you can see what the universities’ own students are making at the annual MFA exhibitions.
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