Applicants are Turning Down This Six-Figure Job in Colorado

Like most people, if I were to have a six-figure salary, I would certainly feel like I had it made. A  $160,000 per year salary is a lot of money. While this may not be the case in cities such as New York City, San Francisco, and other very high-cost-of-living cities, it's certainly a good salary in the state of Colorado.

An annual salary of $167,000 means a bi-monthly paycheck just short of $7,000 before taxes. Who wouldn't want an opportunity to have two paychecks a month like this? Well, some are turning down a position at a company offering this high wage in Colorado.

According to NBC News, the City of Steamboat Springs can't find a single person to fill the Head of Human Resources position as of March 3, 2024. A $167,000 annual salary and not a single person who has applied for the job has wanted to take the position, why?  With a salary that pays you almost $14,000 per month, surely you could live like a king or a queen. That's not the case in the small northwestern Colorado mountain town.

Why no one wants to take a six-figure salary job in Steamboat Springs, Colorado

If you had a mortgage payment of $5,000 per month, you would still be living quite comfortably in Steamboat Springs. Yeah, right. The reason why no one has accepted this high-paying position at the City of Steamboat Springs is based solely on the real estate market.

According to Realtor, there is not one single-family home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, that is listed for less than $1 million. The cheapest home that is currently for sale in Steamboat Springs is $1.275 million. With a twenty percent down payment of $255,000, a potential buyer would still have to fork over $7,400 per month on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.  A mortgage payment this high would effectively wipe out half of that $167,000 annual salary.

CBS News says that doctors at Steamboat Hospital are easily willing to pay more than $1 million for a home and are constantly outbid by out-of-state buyers who are paying in cash. The housing market in Steamboat Springs has gotten so bad that local ski resorts have turned to leasing a hotel for its employees to live in since the majority of the homes have been turned into short-term vacation rentals for out-of-towners.

RELATED: How Much Do You Have to Make to Live Comfortably in Colorado? 

It's no wonder that applicants are turning down the Head of Human Resources position at the City of Steamboat Springs with a rather hefty six-figure salary. There's no place to live. Currently, the City of Steamboat Springs does not have the Head of Human Resources listed on the careers page at governmentjobs.com.