When Brittany, a special education paraprofessional, moved back to Colorado Springs from Denver a decade ago, a main driver was the rising cost of living in the Mile High City.

The 53-year-old, who declined to give her last name, relocated with hopes the move would improve her financial freedom and quality of life.

While the cost of living was lower in the Springs, wages were, too. And over the years, as the cost of living rose across the state and the nation — driven by inflation, housing shortages, increased construction costs, a pandemic, rising tax burdens, new tariffs and global conflict — Brittany and other residents in El Paso County were not immune to the crunch.

Now having worked full-time for five years as a special education paraprofessional at a local charter school, Brittany is faced with choosing between her career and the city she calls home.

“I love my job, but I may have to move on from my passion due to the cost of living,” Brittany said.

She’d envisioned her role as a paraprofessional would be her final career.

“It’s embarrassing, because a person of my age with a full-time job should not be in this position. I don’t go out drinking, I don’t buy extravagant groceries, I don’t have a bunch of expensive clothes or anything. I am at just the bare minimum basic. … I don’t know how I feel about the whole thing,” she said.

Earning roughly $26,000 a year, Brittany’s annual salary is well below El Paso County’s 2025 area median income of $78,800 for a single-person household, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Her school does not split pay for all 12 months of the year, so she doesn’t receive a paycheck during breaks or over the summer. Brittany supplements her income with other work, but the job market has been tough, she said. Though she’s submitted an estimated 50-100 job applications — “I’ve looked at everything,” she emphasized, from positions in hospitality service to child care and in-between — she hasn’t successfully found additional work in more than a year.

She also relies on public transportation to get to and from work, which is too far from her home to bike or walk. The lack of mass transit routes and stops near her school requires her to use rideshare services like Uber, costing her an additional $200-$250 each month.

With monthly rent costing about half of her annual salary, the increasing costs of food and necessities, and with her credit cards maxed out to cover her transportation needs, it’s been difficult to make ends meet, Brittany said. She recently had to move out of her apartment for the second time in six months.

The first time, she received aid from the state Division of Housing’s Colorado Emergency Rental Assistance Program. It assists qualifying Coloradans who are behind on rent payments and are at risk of being evicted or displaced. It helped Brittany relocate and covered her next deposit and first month’s rent, but she hasn’t received additional housing aid since.

Finding aid is a challenge itself, Brittany added. Being a single woman with no children, she doesn’t qualify for many available resources. She also “makes too much money” to qualify for most programs, Brittany said.

She’s considered moving out of Colorado but wants to remain in the state to be near her family.

She’s focused on making it through the end of the school year. Brittany plans to stay short-term with a friend but must now figure out how to cover moving costs.

The stress of trying to make ends meet has taken a mental toll, she said.

“I hide it pretty well, I would say, for the most part. … But it is hard,” she said. “It’s something that’s in the back of my mind: How am I going to get enough money today to pay my bills?”