Colorado had the third highest rent and fifth highest home prices in 2023, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis from a zoning group. 

Compiled by the nonprofit National Zoning Atlas, the analysis examined zoning codes in all 334 of Colorado’s jurisdictions to assess how zoning affects housing affordability in the state.

Of those 334 jurisdictions, 275 have zoning codes — but not all are openly available to the public, the analysis found.

“Affordable” housing has been a top priority of Gov. Jared Polis since he was first elected in 2019. He lauded several bills passed during the 2024 legislative session that tackle the issue, but conceded there is “more work ahead to stop government from preventing housing that meets our needs.”

“This study solidifies that we value data and our approach to housing is what works and that unnecessary zoning restrictions make it difficult for people to build housing that is needed and wanted by Coloradans,” he said. 

The zoning group collected data between April 2024 and April 2025. Here are some of the key findings:

Most land is zoned for single-family housing

Some 92% of residential land in Colorado allows single-family housing “as of right,” meaning a development project can be approved without the property owner having to go through a public hearing or special permits. By contrast, just 3% of the state’s residential land allows for housing with more than four units “as of right.”

Nearly 60% of residential land in the state is solely zoned for single-family housing, as opposed to multi-family or mixed-use.

A 2024 bill passed by the General Assembly prohibits local governments from imposing limits on the number of family members who can live together in a single household, unless there are serious health and safety risks. 

Polis said the policy cuts red tape and “gets the government out of the business of telling people who they can live with.” Critics said the law coopts local control, arguing counties and cities know their communities better than the state. 

Minimum lot sizes are ‘widespread and excessive’ 

Colorado has the highest minimum lot size of the 10 states analyzed. Over 90% of land zoned for single-family homes in the state require a lot size of at least one acre, and over 86% require over two acres. 

These requirements make housing scarcer and create sprawl or low-density expansion to suburbs or rural areas. 

According to the organization Colorado Sprawl, between 1982 and 2017, the state lost over 1,200 square miles of open space. Over 85% of that loss was due to a significant increase in population.

Parking mandates exist on 85% of residential land

Property owners are required to build a specific amount of parking for each unit on 85% of the state’s residential land. When large portions of a parcel are used for parking, it means less space for housing, which can drive up costs. 

In 2024, the state legislature passed House Bill 1304, which prohibits local governments in the state’s largest cities from enacting or enforcing minimum parking requirements on land zoned for multi-family housing. 

“There’s no such thing as free parking,” said former Rep. Stephanie Vigil, D-Colorado Springs, who sponsored the bill. “It is being paid for somehow, and the way that we have paid for that more than anything is to pave paradise and put up a parking lot.”

Many municipalities make it nearly impossible to build accessory dwelling units

According to the zoning group, accessory dwelling units, also known as mother-in-law suites or accessory apartments, are extremely difficult to build in Colorado because over half of the state’s land zoned for single-family housing prohibits them from being constructed by right.

An additional 37% of the state’s jurisdictions ban ADUs entirely. However, these numbers will almost certainly change following the passage of a 2024 law requiring local governments to allow for the construction of ADUs on single-family home properties, which officially went into effect on June 30 of this year.