I can't speak to the salary part, but I loved living there. I'm tied up with the Army for the foreseeable future, but I have a feeling that the wife and I will end up living in there after I "retire" from the military, maybe in the Fort Collins area. Most of the state is stunning (except the east side, which looks like the areas of Kansas and Missouri where I grew up) and everyone seems from active (skiing/snowboarding in the winter and biking, rafting, hiking in the summer). It was a fun place to live. I was a broke student while I was there though so I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I would have liked.
I think it really depends on where you want live. Denver in particular is growing crazy fast and the cost of living has be going up quite a bit. We lived in northern CA before and after we lived in CO and I didn't notice a huge change in COL. Giant apartment complexes seemed to be popping up on every corner, but they can't keep up with demand so rental prices are high. Buying a house in most areas of town will set you back a pretty penny, too. It might level out eventually but who knows. We both liked Fort Collins a lot. It's a college town so you get a lot of the amenities of a bigger city without the overwhelming crowds. Like most parts of the state it's a huge area for breweries (New Belgium and O'Dell are a couple of the bigger ones in the area), which I love. My dream scenario is that Colorado State University opens up a PT school in the next decade or so and I can land a job teaching there after I get done playing Army. Colorado Springs is nice as well. The area around is is naturally beautiful (Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods are practically next door). The city is decent sized but doesn't have a "big city" feel. I hear it's starting to grow as well as people get priced out of Denver. There are obviously tons of other areas in the state, but those are the only ones I have much familiarity with. Good luck!
