Rank #23 of 33
Denver, CO
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
9.0
Tacos per hour at the local median wage
$3.25
Avg taco price
$29.38
Median hourly wage (2024)
$4.50
Fast-casual taqueria
$1.99
Taco Bell crunchy taco
Denver sits below the national average. An hour of local work buys 9.0 tacos here, compared with 9.3 tacos per hour across the 33-city index (−0.3 vs national average).
Local note
Denver's taco scene blends old-school West Side taquerias with a newer wave of upmarket fast-casual operators. The mountain-tourism premium and rising rents have pushed standard taco prices well above the national average, and $4–5 per taco is now common at name-brand spots.
Where the numbers come from
Fast-casual: Denver Street Tacos ($4.50), Tacos Tequila Whiskey, El Taco de Mexico, Taco Bron. Chain: Taco Bell crunchy taco $1.99 (national avg).
Average taco price ($3.25) is $0.48 above the national average of $2.77.
How this is calculated. Tacos per hour = median hourly wage ÷ average taco price.
Average taco price is the mean of the fast-casual taqueria anchor and the local Taco Bell crunchy taco price.
Wages come from BLS OEWS, May 2024, MSA-level median for all occupations.
Full methodology.