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Colorado's ranks still swelling

Population gains bring state near 5 million people

By Jerd Smith, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 23, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Colorado may not be booming these days, but it remains among the fastest-growing states in the nation, placing third, along with Texas and North Carolina, with population growth of 2 percent.

Utah outstripped Colorado for the No. 1 spot nationwide, growing at 2.5 percent, while Arizona came in second, with growth of 2.3 percent between July 2007 and July 2008.

Still, Colorado gained 96,686 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, with total population reaching 4.9 million, up from 4.8 million in July 2007.

Unlike Utah, where much of the growth comes from natural births, Colorado's surge in head count is due largely to an influx of 52,398 migrants from other states and countries, according to Robert Bernstein, a spokesman for the U.S. Census in Washington, D.C.

Just 44,258 newcomers to the state were born here, Bernstein said.

In all, Colorado lured 36,878 people from other states, and 15,520 from other countries. Of international migrants, roughly half come from Central and South America.

The West, once again, showed up as the fastest-growing region, with Utah knocking Nevada out of the top spot. Nevada this year ranks eighth after being in the top four for more than 20 years, according to the Census Bureau.

Like other parts of the nation, though, the West isn't luring people at the rate it did during the 1990s.

Only two states - Michigan and Rhode Island - lost population from 2007 to 2008, according to the new estimates. But growth rates fell in many states, even for those that had been adding residents at a rapid clip.

Foreign immigration has slowed since the start of the decade and fewer people are moving around within the nation's borders. A study by the Pew Research Center found that only 13 percent of U.S.residents moved from 2006 to 2007 - the smallest percentage since the government began tracking movers in the late 1940s.

While this year's benchmark in Colorado for net migration has been healthy, during the booming 1990s the number surged to more than 80,000 in some years, said state demographer Elizabeth Garner.

Garner said much of Colorado's recent net migration likely occurred in 2007, when the economy was still growing.

Thanks to slowing markets, next year the state is forecasting net migration of just 35,000, Garner said. That's well below this year's pace, but still not as low as 2003, when net migration dropped to just 24,000.

"Colorado's doing better than the rest of the nation," Garner said. "But a lot of our population increases come from overseas. If there aren't jobs, people aren't going to come."

Nonetheless, Colorado's population is expected to continue growing, reaching 7.8 million people by 2035, she said.

"In the long run, this recession is a blip," Garner said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Top 10 fastest-growing states

State Percent Gain

* Utah 2.5%

* Arizona 2.3%

* Texas 2.0%

* North Carolina 2.0%

* COLORADO 2.0%

* Idaho 1.8%

* Wyoming 1.8%

* Nevada 1.8%

* Georgia 1.7%

* South Carolina 1.7%

Comments

  • December 23, 2008

    5:23 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    youngman writes:

    "15,520 from other countries. Of international migrants, roughly half come from Central and South America."

    Illegals........great...and now we have budget troubles...big troubles....we are idiots for allowing this to happen...now we pay dearly...and your children pay dearly....welcome to the new third world

  • December 23, 2008

    7:33 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    The_KIMN_Chicken writes:

    Is growth "doing good?" I guess so but it's not always so great a lot of the people that relocate here are total d-bags.

  • December 23, 2008

    8:58 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    greenleaf writes:

    Edward Abbey once said: "Growth for Growth's sake is the logic of a cancer cell.".

  • December 23, 2008

    2:14 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    SanctuaryCity writes:

    We need more fake ID'S. Have they been in Parker the last few nights?

    We need to change the state logo to the santuary state.

    You have seen what's happening to California because of 'em