Why You Won’t Be Able To Afford Retiring in These 15 Cities in Colorado

Colorado ranks as one of the most expensive states to live in when you include high-dollar resort communities like Aspen and Vail or some of the pricier communities around Denver and Boulder. You’ll find much more affordable cities and towns elsewhere in the Centennial State, though they might not be ideal for retirees because of a lack of amenities.

A recent GOBankingRates study looked at each state to determine how long $1 million would last you in retirement. In Colorado, $1 million would last you an average of 16 years, two months and four days . That ranked it as the 16 ^th most expensive state for retirees with a $1 million nest egg.

Here’s how the costs broke down:

• Annual groceries cost: $4,979
• Annual housing cost: $13,691
• Annual utilities cost: $3,944
• Annual transportation cost: $5,254
• Annual healthcare cost: $7,465
• Total annual expenditures: $61,807

When you break those annual expenditures down further, they come to about $5,150 a month. But plenty of municipalities in Colorado will cost you a whole lot more than that. A separate GBR study that looked at costs in thousands of U.S. communities found that average monthly expenditures in Aspen are a whopping $56,746 — the second highest in the country behind Palm Beach, Florida.

Much of Aspen’s expense is based on an average monthly mortgage of about $55,000, which means many homes are priced at $10 million or above. Other ultra-expensive Colorado communities include Mountain Village ($36,542 a month), Snowmass Village ($31,458) and Telluride ($29,715).

Obviously, you need to be wealthy to retire in any of those places. But there are also dozens of less expensive communities that are still out of reach for most U.S. retirees.

Following are 15 Colorado cities where retirement is unaffordable based on GBR’s analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Sperlings BestPlaces, AreaVibes, Zillow Home Value Index and the Federal Reserve. All cities listed have average living expenses above $6,000 a month.

Dillon

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,703
• Average monthly mortgage : $6,568
• Monthly cost of living : $8,271

Sedalia

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,888
• Average monthly mortgage : $5,250
• Monthly cost of living : $7,138

Meridian

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,836
• Average monthly mortgage :  $4,679
• Monthly cost of living :  $6,515

Estes Park

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,773
• Average monthly mortgage :  $4,748
• Monthly cost of living :  $6,521

Lyons

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,827
• Average monthly mortgage : $4,605
• Monthly cost of living : $6,432

Durango

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,701
• Average monthly mortgage : $4,657
• Monthly cost of living : $6,358

Highlands Ranch

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,863
• Average monthly mortgage : $4,422
• Monthly cost of living : $6,285

Erie

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,805
• Average monthly mortgage : $4,474
• Monthly cost of living : $6,279

Monument

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,787
• Average monthly mortgage : $4,463
• Monthly cost of living : $6,250

Lafayette

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,799
• Average monthly mortgage : $4,434
• Monthly cost of living : $6,234

Morrison

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,874
• Average monthly mortgage : $4,268
• Monthly cost of living : $6,142

Parker

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,880
• Average monthly mortgage :  $4,255
• Monthly cost of living :  $6,135

Gypsum

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,749
• Average monthly mortgage :  $4,386
• Monthly cost of living :  $6,135

Elizabeth

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,930
• Average monthly mortgage : $4,130
• Monthly cost of living : $6,060

Ouray

• Average monthly expenditures : $1,756
• Average monthly mortgage : $4,288
• Monthly cost of living : $6,044

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Why You Won’t Be Able To Afford Retiring in These 15 Cities in Colorado