Brittany, a 53-year-old special-education paraprofessional, says rising costs have pushed her toward a brutal choice: keep the job she loves or leave the city she calls home. She earns roughly $26,000 a year, has moved out of her apartment twice in six months and is now staying temporarily with a friend. The constant scramble to cover rent, transportation and groceries has taken a clear mental toll and driven her to apply for dozens of other jobs.
How the math breaks down
El Paso County’s 2025 area median income for a single-person household is $78,800, according to CHFA’s 2025 income limits. Brittany’s reported $26,000 a year, along with the 50 to 100 job applications she says she has submitted while trying to make ends meet, shows just how far many local workers fall below that benchmark, as reported by the Denver Gazette. That gap between the local median income and low-wage work helps explain why residents are feeling squeezed.
Rents, transit and tight pay
El Paso County’s median rent sits near $1,628 a month, according to Realtor.com, a level that can swallow a huge share of a low wage in the Springs. Local salary data show the average special-education paraprofessional in Colorado Springs earns roughly $17.61 an hour, per ZipRecruiter, while district pay schedules reported on Glassdoor show higher ranges for many school employees. For households already stretched by groceries and utilities, that difference often turns into painful trade-offs about which bill does not get paid.
Emergency rental help but no long-term fix
State programs can offer short-term relief, but awards are limited. The Colorado Emergency Rental Assistance program helped Brittany cover a security deposit and a first month’s rent, and she also relies on rideshare trips that cost about $200 to $250 a month, as reported by the Denver Gazette. The Division of Housing notes that CERA awards are capped at seven months or $10,000 and that applicants are selected through a monthly pre-application process, according to the CERA page. That structure means many people who need help can still fall through the cracks, even after receiving one-time assistance.
Statewide pressure and local services
The squeeze in El Paso County mirrors a broader statewide trend: recent scorecards and reporting place Colorado among the most expensive states to live in, and that rising cost burden has pushed demand for local aid upward. Community food providers in the Springs say they now see roughly 40 new families a week seeking supplemental support, and state officials have rolled out measures ranging from targeted tax relief to the Proposition 123 affordable-housing fund to blunt the worst impacts, according to reporting in the Colorado Springs Gazette. Officials and advocates say those steps help in places but will not erase market-driven price pressure on their own.
Where to look for help
Residents who are behind on rent are urged to monitor the Division of Housing’s CERA calendar for pre-application windows and can contact the CARE Center at 1 (303) 838-1200 for help completing forms, per the program guidance. The state partners with nonprofit providers to process awards and aims to review complete applications within four to six weeks, with payments to landlords or tenants following approval, according to the Division of Housing’s program page. Local tenant-rights groups and legal-aid clinics also maintain waiting lists and referral services for people confronting eviction.
For Brittany and hundreds of others, the immediate choices, whether higher pay, more affordable housing supply or expanded aid, will determine whether they can stay in the Springs or must chase cheaper housing elsewhere. Her story highlights how a mix of modest wages, transit gaps and tight rental markets is reshaping everyday life for working families across the region.
