Across metro Denver, one county stands out for the high purchasing power its residents enjoy, but two others are above average nationwide, according to a new report.
For its latest annual report on the topic, SmartAsset, a New York-based personal-finance data company, compared counties across the United States on their residents' purchasing power -- the ratio of their household median income, minus income taxes, to the local cost of living -- based on 2018 data.
In Colorado, Elbert County came out on top in SmartAsset's estimation, with media income of $92,849 and an annual cost of living of $51,237.
Cost of living is a government measure of the typical expenses a household faces, from housing costs to groceries to medical bills to haircuts.
Elbert scored a "purchasing power index" rating of 71.64 in the SmartAsset report, with 50 being the national median.
There was a sizable gap between Elbert and any other Colorado county in the SmartAsset report. Broomfield County came in at No. 2, with a purchasing power rating of 64.55 based on median income of $85,639 and cost of living of $50,433.
Arapahoe County came in at No. 7 statewide -- purchasing power index 57.07, median income $69,553, cost of living $44,082.
Elbert, Broomfield and Arapahoe were the only metro Denver counties in SmartAsset's purchasing power Top 10 for Colorado. Other Colorado counties include Weld at No. 3, Eagle at No. 4, Teller at No. 5, Grand at No. 6, El Paso at No. 8, Garfield at No. 9 and Larimer at No. 10.
Nationwide, three of the 10 counties with the highest purchasing power are in energy-rich North Dakota, including No. 1 Billings County, SmartAsset estimated.
As for median income alone, leaving cost of living aside, SmartAsset placed Douglas County at No. 6 nationwide with a typical income of $111,154.
SmartAsset based its report on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2018 American Community Survey, the MIT Living Wage Study, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2018 Consumer Expenditure Survey.
For more from the report and an interactive map, visit tinyurl.com/PurchashingPower.
