Buying the median home in Lakewood means financing $490,000. Against the area's $78,000 median household income, that works out to a 6.3x price-to-income ratio.
Property taxes in Lakewood run 0.51% of assessed value, below the 1.1% national average. On the median home, that's $2,499 a year, or $208 added to the monthly payment.
Unlike the nine no-income-tax states, Colorado taxes wage income. Worth running your actual take-home pay against the $2,953/month payment here before locking in a target price.
Day-to-day expenses in Lakewood track at 108 against the national 100 baseline, above average once you look past the mortgage payment itself.
Lakewood's median home price runs 14% lower than nearby Denver: $570,000 there versus $490,000 here.