Data / Rankings / Unemployed people / Cities in Colorado

Cities in Colorado by unemployed people

Denver, CO had the highest unemployed people of 28 cities in 2021, at 25,131. Erie, CO had the lowest, at 625. The median was 2,121. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest25,131Denver, CO
Lowest625Erie, CO
Median2,12128 cities

All cities, 2021

Denver, CO: 25,131 personsDenver, CO25,131Colorado Springs, CO: 14,071 personsColorado Springs, CO14,071Aurora, CO: 13,820 personsAurora, CO13,820Lakewood, CO: 5,302 personsLakewood, CO5,302Fort Collins, CO: 4,625 personsFort Collins, CO4,625Pueblo, CO: 4,505 personsPueblo, CO4,505Thornton, CO: 4,396 personsThornton, CO4,396Westminster, CO: 3,696 personsWestminster, CO3,696Greeley, CO: 3,580 personsGreeley, CO3,580Arvada, CO: 3,549 personsArvada, CO3,549Longmont, CO: 2,980 personsLongmont, CO2,980Centennial, CO: 2,651 personsCentennial, CO2,651Boulder, CO: 2,531 personsBoulder, CO2,531Loveland, CO: 2,292 personsLoveland, CO2,292Commerce City, CO: 1,949 personsCommerce City, CO1,949Broomfield, CO: 1,938 personsBroomfield, CO1,938Grand Junction, CO: 1,890 personsGrand Junction, CO1,890Castle Rock, CO: 1,673 personsCastle Rock, CO1,673Parker, CO: 1,507 personsParker, CO1,507Northglenn, CO: 1,439 personsNorthglenn, CO1,439Brighton, CO: 1,325 personsBrighton, CO1,325Englewood, CO: 1,244 personsEnglewood, CO1,244Littleton, CO: 1,221 personsLittleton, CO1,221Wheat Ridge, CO: 1,199 personsWheat Ridge, CO1,199Lafayette, CO: 859 personsLafayette, CO859Fountain, CO: 803 personsFountain, CO803Windsor, CO: 776 personsWindsor, CO776Erie, CO: 625 personsErie, CO625Denver, CO: 25,131 personsDenver, CO25,131Colorado Springs, CO: 14,071 personsColorado Springs, CO14,071Aurora, CO: 13,820 personsAurora, CO13,820Lakewood, CO: 5,302 personsLakewood, CO5,302Fort Collins, CO: 4,625 personsFort Collins, CO4,625Pueblo, CO: 4,505 personsPueblo, CO4,505Thornton, CO: 4,396 personsThornton, CO4,396Westminster, CO: 3,696 personsWestminster, CO3,696Greeley, CO: 3,580 personsGreeley, CO3,580Arvada, CO: 3,549 personsArvada, CO3,549Longmont, CO: 2,980 personsLongmont, CO2,980Centennial, CO: 2,651 personsCentennial, CO2,651Boulder, CO: 2,531 personsBoulder, CO2,531Loveland, CO: 2,292 personsLoveland, CO2,292Commerce City, CO: 1,949 personsCommerce City, CO1,949Broomfield, CO: 1,938 personsBroomfield, CO1,938Grand Junction, CO: 1,890 personsGrand Junction, CO1,890Castle Rock, CO: 1,673 personsCastle Rock, CO1,673Parker, CO: 1,507 personsParker, CO1,507Northglenn, CO: 1,439 personsNorthglenn, CO1,439Brighton, CO: 1,325 personsBrighton, CO1,325Englewood, CO: 1,244 personsEnglewood, CO1,244Littleton, CO: 1,221 personsLittleton, CO1,221Wheat Ridge, CO: 1,199 personsWheat Ridge, CO1,199Lafayette, CO: 859 personsLafayette, CO859Fountain, CO: 803 personsFountain, CO803Windsor, CO: 776 personsWindsor, CO776Erie, CO: 625 personsErie, CO625
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Denver, CO25,131-21.4%
2Colorado Springs, CO14,071-14.1%
3Aurora, CO13,820-17.7%
4Lakewood, CO5,302-20.2%
5Fort Collins, CO4,625-20.8%
6Pueblo, CO4,505+7.6%
7Thornton, CO4,396-18%
8Westminster, CO3,696-23%
9Greeley, CO3,580-8%
10Arvada, CO3,549-21.6%
11Longmont, CO2,980-12.1%
12Centennial, CO2,651-23.2%
13Boulder, CO2,531-28.1%
14Loveland, CO2,292-14.3%
15Commerce City, CO1,949-12.9%
16Broomfield, CO1,938-21.8%
17Grand Junction, CO1,890-13.9%
18Castle Rock, CO1,673-16.6%
19Parker, CO1,507-22%
20Northglenn, CO1,439-16.1%
21Brighton, CO1,325-8.5%
22Englewood, CO1,244-20.1%
23Littleton, CO1,221-24.6%
24Wheat Ridge, CO1,199-18.2%
25Lafayette, CO859-17.2%
26Fountain, CO803-12%
27Windsor, CO776-14.7%
28Erie, CO625-11.5%

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, 2021) [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, 2021. 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=2021. 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, 2021. 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=2021.

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, 2021 [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=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_colorado_by_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  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=2021. 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, 2021
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=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2021.
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 25,131 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Erie, CO, with 625 in 2021.

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