Data / Rankings / Unemployed people / Cities in Colorado

Cities in Colorado by unemployed people

Denver, CO had the highest unemployed people of 26 cities in 2016, at 11,338. Lafayette, CO had the lowest, at 418. The median was 1,491. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest11,338Denver, CO
Lowest418Lafayette, CO
Median1,49126 cities

All cities, 2016

Denver, CO: 11,338 personsDenver, CO11,338Colorado Springs, CO: 7,659 personsColorado Springs, CO7,659Aurora, CO: 6,037 personsAurora, CO6,037Lakewood, CO: 2,470 personsLakewood, CO2,470Fort Collins, CO: 2,395 personsFort Collins, CO2,395Pueblo, CO: 2,331 personsPueblo, CO2,331Thornton, CO: 2,253 personsThornton, CO2,253Westminster, CO: 1,953 personsWestminster, CO1,953Arvada, CO: 1,850 personsArvada, CO1,850Greeley, CO: 1,791 personsGreeley, CO1,791Grand Junction, CO: 1,744 personsGrand Junction, CO1,744Centennial, CO: 1,735 personsCentennial, CO1,735Boulder, CO: 1,500 personsBoulder, CO1,500Longmont, CO: 1,481 personsLongmont, CO1,481Loveland, CO: 1,196 personsLoveland, CO1,196Broomfield, CO: 1,023 personsBroomfield, CO1,023Commerce City, CO: 961 personsCommerce City, CO961Castle Rock, CO: 845 personsCastle Rock, CO845Parker, CO: 754 personsParker, CO754Northglenn, CO: 704 personsNorthglenn, CO704Brighton, CO: 690 personsBrighton, CO690Littleton, CO: 685 personsLittleton, CO685Wheat Ridge, CO: 596 personsWheat Ridge, CO596Englewood, CO: 588 personsEnglewood, CO588Fountain, CO: 489 personsFountain, CO489Lafayette, CO: 418 personsLafayette, CO418Denver, CO: 11,338 personsDenver, CO11,338Colorado Springs, CO: 7,659 personsColorado Springs, CO7,659Aurora, CO: 6,037 personsAurora, CO6,037Lakewood, CO: 2,470 personsLakewood, CO2,470Fort Collins, CO: 2,395 personsFort Collins, CO2,395Pueblo, CO: 2,331 personsPueblo, CO2,331Thornton, CO: 2,253 personsThornton, CO2,253Westminster, CO: 1,953 personsWestminster, CO1,953Arvada, CO: 1,850 personsArvada, CO1,850Greeley, CO: 1,791 personsGreeley, CO1,791Grand Junction, CO: 1,744 personsGrand Junction, CO1,744Centennial, CO: 1,735 personsCentennial, CO1,735Boulder, CO: 1,500 personsBoulder, CO1,500Longmont, CO: 1,481 personsLongmont, CO1,481Loveland, CO: 1,196 personsLoveland, CO1,196Broomfield, CO: 1,023 personsBroomfield, CO1,023Commerce City, CO: 961 personsCommerce City, CO961Castle Rock, CO: 845 personsCastle Rock, CO845Parker, CO: 754 personsParker, CO754Northglenn, CO: 704 personsNorthglenn, CO704Brighton, CO: 690 personsBrighton, CO690Littleton, CO: 685 personsLittleton, CO685Wheat Ridge, CO: 596 personsWheat Ridge, CO596Englewood, CO: 588 personsEnglewood, CO588Fountain, CO: 489 personsFountain, CO489Lafayette, CO: 418 personsLafayette, CO418
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2016
persons		Change on 2015
1Denver, CO11,338-14.4%
2Colorado Springs, CO7,659-17.9%
3Aurora, CO6,037-16.5%
4Lakewood, CO2,470-17.4%
5Fort Collins, CO2,395-12.4%
6Pueblo, CO2,331-14.2%
7Thornton, CO2,253-16%
8Westminster, CO1,953-13.7%
9Arvada, CO1,850-13.2%
10Greeley, CO1,791-9.8%
11Grand Junction, CO1,744-2.2%
12Centennial, CO1,735-16.7%
13Boulder, CO1,500-16.2%
14Longmont, CO1,481-11.8%
15Loveland, CO1,196-16.1%
16Broomfield, CO1,023-8.7%
17Commerce City, CO961-15.6%
18Castle Rock, CO845-5.3%
19Parker, CO754-13.3%
20Northglenn, CO704-17.8%
21Brighton, CO690-16.4%
22Littleton, CO685-16.9%
23Wheat Ridge, CO596-12.2%
24Englewood, CO588-17.3%
25Fountain, CO489-19.3%
26Lafayette, CO418-9.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. 2 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2016 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Colorado by unemployed people, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Colorado by unemployed people, 2016. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in Colorado by unemployed people, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Colorado by unemployed people, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_colorado_by_2016,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Colorado by unemployed people, 2016}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2016. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Colorado by unemployed people, 2016
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Colorado by unemployed people using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest unemployed people?

Denver, CO, with 11,338 in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Lafayette, CO, with 418 in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 2 cities have no value for 2016 and are not ranked.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Colorado: more rankings