Cost of Living & Housing in Ouray
Ouray's cost of living combines a genuinely low property tax rate with a real, disclosed affordability strain -- even the lower cited home-price figures represent roughly 7.5x-9x the town's median household income, and the combined sales tax runs higher than several other Colorado mountain towns in this dataset.
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Learn moreHome prices disagree by source, but the affordability strain is real either way
Zillow's home value index for Ouray is $692,173, down 4.7% year over year; Redfin's actual median SALE price for the most recent month was a lower $592,000, down a sharper 17.3% YoY; Movoto's median LIST price was $795,000 (July 2026) (base record). Set against Ouray's $78,182 median household income, even the lower Redfin figure represents roughly a 7.6x price-to-income ratio -- a real, disclosed strain worth budgeting around regardless of which specific figure applies to a given property search.
Property tax is a genuine, disclosed bright spot
Ouray County's average effective property tax rate is a low 0.36% -- the 50th-highest of Colorado's 64 counties, i.e. genuinely low both statewide and nationally (base record). The median cited tax bill is $1,477/yr on a $405,800 median home, though bills run considerably higher for higher-value properties (up to $5,893 at the 90th percentile).
Sales tax runs comparatively high
Ouray's combined sales tax rate is 9.45% (2.9% state + 2.55% Ouray County + 4.0% city) -- a 6.55% combined local layer that runs higher than the base-district rate in Silverthorne (elsewhere in this dataset) and reflects a real, meaningful local-tax choice by this specific town and county (base record).
Everyday costs are shaped by real geographic remoteness
Ouray's genuinely remote setting -- roughly 36-37 miles from the nearest hospital and commercial airport (both in Montrose), and roughly 330 miles/5.5-6 hours from Denver -- can mean real, if hard-to-quantify-precisely, added cost and inconvenience for goods, services, and specialist care that aren't available in-town, distinct from a straightforward cost-of-living index (base record).
Key takeaways
- Ouray's home-price figures disagree by source ($692,173 Zillow index, down 4.7% YoY, versus $592,000 Redfin median sale price, down 17.3% YoY) but even the lower figure represents roughly a 7.6x price-to-income ratio against the $78,182 median household income.
- Ouray County's effective property tax rate is a genuinely low 0.36%.
- Combined sales tax is a comparatively high 9.45% (2.9% state + 2.55% county + 4.0% city).
- Ouray's genuine remoteness from Montrose (36-37 miles) and Denver (~330 miles) is a real, if hard-to-quantify-precisely, added cost/inconvenience factor beyond a standard cost-of-living index.
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