A Nexstar piece by Nick Jachim and Brooke Williams takes a victory lap over a new SmartAsset report showing Colorado residents have one of the highest median household net worths in the country. Colorado lands at No. 5, with a median net worth of $370,000, based on Census data from 2023 that SmartAsset published in July 2025.
The article breaks “net worth” into the usual mix: retirement savings, deposit accounts, home equity, vehicle equity, and other investments minus debts. And in case you were wondering what’s doing the heavy lifting, the numbers tell you without blinking: Colorado’s median home equity is listed at $350,000, dwarfing the other categories.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Colorado is ranked No. 5 in the country for median net worth at $370,000, behind Hawaii, Washington, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
- The report is built from 2023 Census Bureau data and covers 43 states, because apparently seven states were out back living their best life off the grid.
- For Colorado, the “median” breakout includes $100,000 in retirement savings, $10,000 in deposit accounts, $350,000 in home equity, and $15,970 in vehicle equity. Home equity is the headline, whether people want to admit it or not.
- The article notes 67.1% of Colorado households have a net worth of $100k or more, and 46.0% are at $500k or more. Those are big numbers, but they do not automatically mean people are sitting on piles of cash.
- Arkansas comes in last at $62,500, with New Mexico and Oklahoma close behind. Which is a nice reminder that “cheap” and “wealthy” rarely ride in the same car.
My Bottom Line
Before my friends on the left get giddy about Colorado being No. 5, and before anyone starts victory-dancing because several top net worth states lean blue, ask yourself what “net worth” means in real life. It is not a Scrooge McDuck vault. For a lot of Colorado families, it is a Zillow estimate with a pulse.
My net worth looks fantastic on the bottom line in Quicken for one main reason: my house value has exploded. That does not mean I’m hoarding cash and rolling in fat stacks. It means I bought 18 years ago, back when a normal family could still buy a home without selling a kidney and naming their firstborn after a mortgage broker.
That is good for those who already own, at least on paper. It is bad for anyone trying to start a life here, build a family here, or stay here after getting priced out by the Great Colorado Housing Lottery. Home equity might inflate your spreadsheet, but it also inflates your property taxes, your insurance, and the cost of entry for the next generation.
So yes, Colorado looks “wealthy” in a report. But if the biggest plus in the net worth column is the value of the property you already own, that is not a victory. It is a warning label.
Source: Fox 31
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