Metro Denver's Population Is Up More Than 388,000 in Eight Years

The population of metro Denver has experienced explosive growth during this decade, with a veritable army of transplants, many of them young, white and rich, choosing to make the Mile High City home. And new data from the United States Census Bureau underscores just how sweeping the changes have been.

Statistics show a leap of more than 388,000 people in the metro area over a span of just eight years. And in excess of 116,000 of those new residents moved into the City and County of Denver.

Census Bureau population figures for 64 counties in Colorado begin with a baseline number from the last full census; they're dated April 1, 2010. Updates through July 1 of each year through 2018 follow.

According to the bureau, the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area consists of ten counties: Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson and Park. Between 2010 and 2018, each of these experienced substantial growth.

Here are the county population numbers on July 1, 2018, followed by the numerical increase since 2010:

Adams: 511,868, up 70,265
Arapahoe: 651,215, up 79,212
Broomfield: 69,267, up 13,378
Clear Creek: 9,605, up 517
Denver: 716,492, up 116,334
Douglas: 342,776, up 57,311
Elbert: 26,282, up 3,196
Gilpin: 6,121, up 680
Jefferson: 580,233, up 45,690
Park: 18,556, 2,350

The combined population for these ten counties is 2,932,415, making for an overall increase of 388,933.

From the standpoint of infrastructure and basic sanity, the good news is that the rate of growth has actually slowed in Denver proper, as you can see from the yearly population totals from July 1 of each year.

2010: 603.354
2011: 620,513
2012: 635,277
2013: 649,413
2014: 664,870
2015: 683,665
2016: 696,618
2017: 705,439
2018: 716,492

The population boosts aren't uniform across the state, either. Most of the growth has been seen in urban areas, and the number of residents has actually fallen since 2010 in fifteen Colorado counties, most of them small and rural: Baca, Bent, Conejos, Hinsdale, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Las Animas, Logan, Moffat, Otero, Phillips, Prowers, Rio Blanco, Rio Grande and Yuma.

In metro Denver, however, the people keep coming — and that impacts commute times, development and so much more.