Cost of living has skyrocketed in Colorado Springs

Is your wallet feeling a little thin these days? A recent study done by Forbes shows that the cost of living in Colorado Springs has skyrocketed since last year.

In the last year, Colorado Springs has seen a 36 percent increase when it comes to cost of living and that’s good for first in the nation. A couple residents shared their reactions on the cost of living.

Patrick Lopez said, “it’s tough to survive sometimes you know.”

Lindy Wetzel added, “when I grew up this was a small town. So to live in a city like this is not what I prefer. In fact, I’m moving to Montana!”

In 2017, The income you needed to support yourself and cover the key necessities, luxuries and savings totaled nearly $50,000. Now, you need to make 67-thousand dollars. However, some people say they haven’t noticed a difference.

Kevin Johnson said, “I haven’t really noticed it, I haven’t seen a big change for me personally.”

“I feel like the cost has gone up as well,” Continued Jacob Hogan.

Tatiana Bailey, Director of Economics at UCCS said housing is the driving force behind the increase. “In the past year, we’ve had about a 14 percent increase from [second quarter] to [second quarter.] But you look at that, all those double-digit increases, by the time you figure out that you are pricing people out of the market, they’ve already started to leave.”

Bailey also said this is something that Colorado Springs has been benefiting from as people move from Denver. However, one resident who grew up here says living has been a struggle because of it.

“It’s difficult, I’m a single father I got two kids and it’s hard to survive,” Lopez said.

As more people move to Colorado Springs and create a bigger demand for housing, prices will only increase.