How Much Money Do You Need to Make to Get By In Fort Collins?

If you make this much, you should be OK.

Oh money. So wonderful and yet such a cause of stress in our lives. There just never seems to be enough of it. And these days, it feels like things are even tighter when it comes to the budget.

Blame the pandemic.

Last year, many of us saw a change in our work. People lost jobs or had to work less hours. Some people even had to take on a second or third job just to make ends meet. All while taking care of their kids and homeschooling them as well.

Blame inflation too.

Things are more expensive these days. Your dollar just doesn't go as far as it used to. That budget is even more difficult to stick to.

Recently, we found a Living Wage Calculator online. This tells you how much you need to make as a single income household to get by. You can break it down by state and by city too. So let's dive in.

How much do you need to make in the state of Colorado?

Before taxes, single income homes should be making $33,136. This takes into account an estimated housing cost of $10,872 and $3,792 in food cost per year. Is it just me or do these numbers seem low? Especially with the housing boom that we've seen.

If you want to break it down even further, let's look at Fort Collins specifically.

In Fort Collins, if you are a single income household without kids, you should be making $15.93 an hour. That's just about on par with the state of Colorado. If you have one kid, that hourly rate goes up to $33.56 or $69,802 per year. If you have two kids, it's $42.55 per hour, and $88,494 yearly salary.

Just for your information, minimum wage is $12.00.

This calculator is pretty sophisticated. You can see exactly what you need to make with a single income or double income, no kids or three kids, and more. You can also see what each life necessity in our area costs, in addition to annual taxes you'll pay.

If you've ever wanted to set a budget or negotiate your pay with your employer, this could be exactly what you need.