Colorado Demographics

The state's capital and largest city is Denver. The Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area, home to 2,927,911 people, contains more than two-thirds of the state's population. Residents of Colorado are primarily referred to as Coloradans, although Coloradoans is an accepted alternative.[13]

As of 2005, Colorado has an estimated population of 4,665,177, which is an increase of 63,356, or 1.4%, from the prior year and an increase of 363,162, or 8.4%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 205,321 people (that is 353,091 births minus 147,770 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 159,957 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 112,217 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 47,740 people.

According to estimates made in 2004, Colorado's population will increase to 7,150,000 by 2030 [3]. The largest increases are expected in the Front Range Urban Corridor, especially in the Denver metropolitan area.

As of 2004, 441,000 foreign-born persons (9.7% of the population) live in the state, including an estimated 144,000 illegal immigrants (3.1% of the state population).

The center of population of Colorado is located just north of the town of Critchell in Jefferson County [4] [5].

Colorado has one of the highest proportions of Hispanic residents of any U.S. state; only five states have a higher percentage. Denver and some other areas have significant Mexican populations, while southern Colorado has a large number of Hispanos, the descendants of early New Mexican settlers of colonial Spanish origin. The 2000 U.S. Census reports that 10.52% of people aged 5 and over in Colorado speak Spanish at home [6].

According to the 2000 Census, the largest ancestry groups in Colorado are German (22%), Irish (12.2%), and English (12%). Persons reporting German ancestry are the largest group in the state and are especially strong in the Front Range and eastern Plains. People of British extraction are the largest group in the western Rocky Mountains.

Colorado, specifically the city of Colorado Springs, serves as the headquarters of numerous Christian groups, most of them Protestant. Focus on the Family is a major conservative Christian organization headquartered in the state. Catholicism is popular among many Coloradans, and is becoming more so with the influx of Latino immigrants. Colorado is similar to other Western states, as it has a high percentage of religiously unaffiliated residents. The Denver area, meanwhile, is home to a large Jewish population, and Boulder and Crestone feature some of the highest concentrations of Tibetan Buddhists in North America.[citation needed]

According to the American Religious Identification Survey, conducted in 2001 by The Graduate Center at the City University of New York, Colorado's population is distributed among the following religious groups:[14]

• Christian – 65%
  • Protestant – 31%
    • Baptist – 8%
    • Methodist – 5%
    • Lutheran – 5%
    • Episcopalian – 3%
    • Presbyterian – 3%
    • Pentecostal – 2%
    • Churches of Christ – 2%
    • Other Protestant – 2%
    • Evangelical – 1%
  • Roman Catholic – 23%
  • Jehovah's Witness – 1%
  • Seventh-day Adventist – 1%
  • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – 2%
  • Other Christian – 9%
• Non-Religious/Atheist/Agnostic – 21%
• Buddhist – 1%
• Jewish – 1%
• Non-demoninational – 1%
• Other Religions – 3%

Colorado Population Density Map