I think there are too many variables to answer this question. But here goes...

If you live in Denver and are a "Denver person" in that you enjoy the mountains all year, enjoy good Colorado craft beer or just don't see yourself moving to a different city then Skywest or Boutique is the best option.

I made the mistake of going to Republic, which at the time had a Denver base. The base has since closed 3 times which left me commuting for 7 years so far. During that commute, because of our base distribution/geography I've only been above 1/2 up a base for a few months in 9 years (~4 months). That said, I never chased the junior base because they were always a 3.5-4 hour flight from DEN.

I upgraded as a FO on reserve at 6.5 years to a CA commuting to reserve. So I upgraded in 2013 after my last two years of reserve and I've been on reserve since (with some lines during months where I got lucky). During bad months I would spend 24 days a month in the airport. Most months I would spend around 20 days in the airport. This is mainly due to non-commutable reserve start times and non-commutable trip finishes.

So as you'll see elsewhere I would chose living in base over pay. I'd also look at upgrade time to the base you live in. I don't know about other companies but movement on our CA list is WAY WAY slower. I've been the same relative seniority in my base for 6 years between my last two locations.

Guaranteed your mileage will vary. This is just a snapshot of one person's experience with regional QoL. There are people at my company that have always enjoyed 14+ days off a month and never really sat reserve. So just understand what can happen.