(The Center Square) – Declines in population growth will adversely affect Colorado’s ability to maintain its workforce, according to a new analysis.
The Common Sense Institute reviewed the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data for the report, “Colorado’s Population Rising at Only a Fraction of Its Former Glory.”
“U.S. Census figures from fiscal year 2023 suggest continued challenges keeping [Colorado’s] population on track with its workforce needs,” CSI said in the report.
In 2013, one of every 12 people moving to a new state came to Colorado, according to the report. Ten years later, one of every 120 people moving came to Colorado.
“Colorado is no longer the destination location it once was according to our analysis,” DJ Summers, director of policy and research for CSI, said in a statement. “Colorado’s outflow of people to other states was higher than its inflow in 2022, a phenomenon that did not happen between 2005 and 2021.”
During the last four years, Colorado had an average net gain of 6,645 people from other states. Between 2013 and 2020, the state averaged a net gain of 41,540 each year. The peak year was 2015, when almost 60,000 people moved to Colorado.
“In 2022 and 2023, net international migration overshot net domestic migration to Colorado for the first time in over a decade, as domestic migration dropped to a fraction of its mid-2010s levels,” the report said.
The report also found Colorado had an outflow of 239,200 people in 2022, more than the annual average of outflow of 177,475 from 2010 to 2019. However, the number of people moving into Colorado was consistent through 2022.
“Those leaving are more likely to be older, while those entering are more likely to be younger,” the report said.
When reviewing past trends, CSI found the state’s domestic inflow in 2022 of 229,876 was higher than the annual average of 217,621 during the 10-year period from 2010 to 2019.
