Data / Rankings / Unemployed people / Cities in Colorado

Cities in Colorado by unemployed people

Denver, CO had the highest unemployed people of 28 cities in 2020, at 31,971. Erie, CO had the lowest, at 706. The median was 2,576. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest31,971Denver, CO
Lowest706Erie, CO
Median2,57628 cities

All cities, 2020

Denver, CO: 31,971 personsDenver, CO31,971Aurora, CO: 16,789 personsAurora, CO16,789Colorado Springs, CO: 16,383 personsColorado Springs, CO16,383Lakewood, CO: 6,640 personsLakewood, CO6,640Fort Collins, CO: 5,837 personsFort Collins, CO5,837Thornton, CO: 5,359 personsThornton, CO5,359Westminster, CO: 4,803 personsWestminster, CO4,803Arvada, CO: 4,525 personsArvada, CO4,525Pueblo, CO: 4,186 personsPueblo, CO4,186Greeley, CO: 3,890 personsGreeley, CO3,890Boulder, CO: 3,519 personsBoulder, CO3,519Centennial, CO: 3,450 personsCentennial, CO3,450Longmont, CO: 3,390 personsLongmont, CO3,390Loveland, CO: 2,674 personsLoveland, CO2,674Broomfield, CO: 2,477 personsBroomfield, CO2,477Commerce City, CO: 2,238 personsCommerce City, CO2,238Grand Junction, CO: 2,196 personsGrand Junction, CO2,196Castle Rock, CO: 2,006 personsCastle Rock, CO2,006Parker, CO: 1,932 personsParker, CO1,932Northglenn, CO: 1,715 personsNorthglenn, CO1,715Littleton, CO: 1,620 personsLittleton, CO1,620Englewood, CO: 1,556 personsEnglewood, CO1,556Wheat Ridge, CO: 1,466 personsWheat Ridge, CO1,466Brighton, CO: 1,448 personsBrighton, CO1,448Lafayette, CO: 1,037 personsLafayette, CO1,037Fountain, CO: 912 personsFountain, CO912Windsor, CO: 910 personsWindsor, CO910Erie, CO: 706 personsErie, CO706Denver, CO: 31,971 personsDenver, CO31,971Aurora, CO: 16,789 personsAurora, CO16,789Colorado Springs, CO: 16,383 personsColorado Springs, CO16,383Lakewood, CO: 6,640 personsLakewood, CO6,640Fort Collins, CO: 5,837 personsFort Collins, CO5,837Thornton, CO: 5,359 personsThornton, CO5,359Westminster, CO: 4,803 personsWestminster, CO4,803Arvada, CO: 4,525 personsArvada, CO4,525Pueblo, CO: 4,186 personsPueblo, CO4,186Greeley, CO: 3,890 personsGreeley, CO3,890Boulder, CO: 3,519 personsBoulder, CO3,519Centennial, CO: 3,450 personsCentennial, CO3,450Longmont, CO: 3,390 personsLongmont, CO3,390Loveland, CO: 2,674 personsLoveland, CO2,674Broomfield, CO: 2,477 personsBroomfield, CO2,477Commerce City, CO: 2,238 personsCommerce City, CO2,238Grand Junction, CO: 2,196 personsGrand Junction, CO2,196Castle Rock, CO: 2,006 personsCastle Rock, CO2,006Parker, CO: 1,932 personsParker, CO1,932Northglenn, CO: 1,715 personsNorthglenn, CO1,715Littleton, CO: 1,620 personsLittleton, CO1,620Englewood, CO: 1,556 personsEnglewood, CO1,556Wheat Ridge, CO: 1,466 personsWheat Ridge, CO1,466Brighton, CO: 1,448 personsBrighton, CO1,448Lafayette, CO: 1,037 personsLafayette, CO1,037Fountain, CO: 912 personsFountain, CO912Windsor, CO: 910 personsWindsor, CO910Erie, CO: 706 personsErie, CO706
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2020
persons		Change on 2019
1Denver, CO31,971+197.5%
2Aurora, CO16,789+195.6%
3Colorado Springs, CO16,383+123.5%
4Lakewood, CO6,640+187.7%
5Fort Collins, CO5,837+160%
6Thornton, CO5,359+155.7%
7Westminster, CO4,803+173.5%
8Arvada, CO4,525+159.8%
9Pueblo, CO4,186+101.1%
10Greeley, CO3,890+165.7%
11Boulder, CO3,519+144.2%
12Centennial, CO3,450+131.1%
13Longmont, CO3,390+143.4%
14Loveland, CO2,674+150.4%
15Broomfield, CO2,477+155.6%
16Commerce City, CO2,238+154.3%
17Grand Junction, CO2,196+118.7%
18Castle Rock, CO2,006+127.2%
19Parker, CO1,932+148.3%
20Northglenn, CO1,715+180.2%
21Littleton, CO1,620+159.2%
22Englewood, CO1,556+178.9%
23Wheat Ridge, CO1,466+183.6%
24Brighton, CO1,448+154%
25Lafayette, CO1,037+161.9%
26Fountain, CO912+95.3%
27Windsor, CO910+177.4%
28Erie, CO706+117.2%

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. 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.CurrentU20-24. 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Colorado by unemployed people, 2020. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2020. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2020.

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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_colorado_by_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2020. 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.CurrentU20-24. 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, 2020
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.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2020.
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.CurrentU20-24. 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 31,971 in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Erie, CO, with 706 in 2020.

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.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Colorado: more rankings