four colorado cities make the fastest-growing migration population list

A report compiling migration patterns inside the United States between 2010 and 2017 has pegged four cities in Colorado as among the top 50 metro areas enjoying the largest growth.

Based on numbers compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program, the group called 24/7 Wall Street placed the city of Fort Collins as number 50 on the fastest-growing list, noting that the city’s in-migration numbers jumped by nearly 34,000, accounting for a population increase of 14.8 percent.

Overall, Fort Collins’ population jumped from 299,628 in 2010 to nearly 344,000 in 2017.

Greeley, in northern Colorado, also saw an in-migration of nearly 34,000 people, contributing to a large 20.5 percent increase in the overall population from 252,839 to nearly 305,000.

Colorado Springs filled out number 43 on the list with in-migration numbers of just under 40,000 and an overall 12 percent population jump from 645,615 to 723,878.

Number thirteen on the list is comprised of the Denver/Aurora/Lakewood metropolitan area with an in-migration of more than 210,000 contributing to a 15.5 percent overall population boom. In total numbers, the metro area significantly grew from 2.1 million people in 2010 to 2.4 million last year.

Population experts note that the latest inside-U.S. migration shifts reflect a move first noticed in the 1960s of people moving from the industrial states of the Midwest to states in the West and South.

The Sierra Vista/Douglas area in Arizona; Farmington, New Mexico; and El Paso made 24/7 Wall Street’s out-migration top 50 list, with both Sierra Vista/Douglas and Farmington losing around 9,400 people each between 2010 and 2017.

Perhaps surprisingly, El Paso placed 8 on the list of cities losing the most due to out-migration, seeing an exit of nearly 22,000 people between 2010 and 2017.

But during that same 7 years, El Paso also saw an overall population increase, mostly due to births that were largely responsible for the city’s total population jumping from 804,123 to 844,818.

24/7 Wall Street is a financial news and analysis service based in New York.

By Garry Boulard