Cities in Colorado by unemployed people

Denver, CO had the highest unemployed people of 28 cities in 2023, at 15,032. Fountain, CO had the lowest, at 479. The median was 1,391. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest15,032Denver, CO
Lowest479Fountain, CO
Median1,39128 cities

All cities, 2023

Denver, CO: 15,032 personsDenver, CO15,032Colorado Springs, CO: 8,489 personsColorado Springs, CO8,489Aurora, CO: 7,398 personsAurora, CO7,398Fort Collins, CO: 3,044 personsFort Collins, CO3,044Lakewood, CO: 2,995 personsLakewood, CO2,995Thornton, CO: 2,645 personsThornton, CO2,645Pueblo, CO: 2,381 personsPueblo, CO2,381Westminster, CO: 2,287 personsWestminster, CO2,287Arvada, CO: 2,164 personsArvada, CO2,164Boulder, CO: 2,042 personsBoulder, CO2,042Centennial, CO: 1,952 personsCentennial, CO1,952Greeley, CO: 1,952 personsGreeley, CO1,952Longmont, CO: 1,844 personsLongmont, CO1,844Broomfield, CO: 1,395 personsBroomfield, CO1,395Loveland, CO: 1,386 personsLoveland, CO1,386Castle Rock, CO: 1,324 personsCastle Rock, CO1,324Commerce City, CO: 1,258 personsCommerce City, CO1,258Grand Junction, CO: 1,209 personsGrand Junction, CO1,209Parker, CO: 1,059 personsParker, CO1,059Brighton, CO: 808 personsBrighton, CO808Littleton, CO: 788 personsLittleton, CO788Northglenn, CO: 772 personsNorthglenn, CO772Englewood, CO: 708 personsEnglewood, CO708Wheat Ridge, CO: 633 personsWheat Ridge, CO633Windsor, CO: 610 personsWindsor, CO610Erie, CO: 577 personsErie, CO577Lafayette, CO: 546 personsLafayette, CO546Fountain, CO: 479 personsFountain, CO479Denver, CO: 15,032 personsDenver, CO15,032Colorado Springs, CO: 8,489 personsColorado Springs, CO8,489Aurora, CO: 7,398 personsAurora, CO7,398Fort Collins, CO: 3,044 personsFort Collins, CO3,044Lakewood, CO: 2,995 personsLakewood, CO2,995Thornton, CO: 2,645 personsThornton, CO2,645Pueblo, CO: 2,381 personsPueblo, CO2,381Westminster, CO: 2,287 personsWestminster, CO2,287Arvada, CO: 2,164 personsArvada, CO2,164Boulder, CO: 2,042 personsBoulder, CO2,042Centennial, CO: 1,952 personsCentennial, CO1,952Greeley, CO: 1,952 personsGreeley, CO1,952Longmont, CO: 1,844 personsLongmont, CO1,844Broomfield, CO: 1,395 personsBroomfield, CO1,395Loveland, CO: 1,386 personsLoveland, CO1,386Castle Rock, CO: 1,324 personsCastle Rock, CO1,324Commerce City, CO: 1,258 personsCommerce City, CO1,258Grand Junction, CO: 1,209 personsGrand Junction, CO1,209Parker, CO: 1,059 personsParker, CO1,059Brighton, CO: 808 personsBrighton, CO808Littleton, CO: 788 personsLittleton, CO788Northglenn, CO: 772 personsNorthglenn, CO772Englewood, CO: 708 personsEnglewood, CO708Wheat Ridge, CO: 633 personsWheat Ridge, CO633Windsor, CO: 610 personsWindsor, CO610Erie, CO: 577 personsErie, CO577Lafayette, CO: 546 personsLafayette, CO546Fountain, CO: 479 personsFountain, CO479
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2023
persons
Change on 2022
1Denver, CO15,032+12.6%
2Colorado Springs, CO8,489+6.7%
3Aurora, CO7,398+2.4%
4Fort Collins, CO3,044+13.9%
5Lakewood, CO2,995+6.2%
6Thornton, CO2,645+6.6%
7Pueblo, CO2,381+0.1%
8Westminster, CO2,287+13.2%
9Arvada, CO2,164+11.5%
10Boulder, CO2,042+25.4%
11Centennial, CO1,952+20%
11Greeley, CO1,952+3.8%
13Longmont, CO1,844+12%
14Broomfield, CO1,395+20.9%
15Loveland, CO1,386+5%
16Castle Rock, CO1,324+19.1%
17Commerce City, CO1,258+8.5%
18Grand Junction, CO1,209+9.3%
19Parker, CO1,059+18.7%
20Brighton, CO808+8.3%
21Littleton, CO788+11.6%
22Northglenn, CO772+7.2%
23Englewood, CO708+7.3%
24Wheat Ridge, CO633-1.4%
25Windsor, CO610+16%
26Erie, CO577+34.8%
27Lafayette, CO546+14.9%
28Fountain, CO479+5.5%

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, 2023) [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, 2023. 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=2023. 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, 2023. 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=2023.

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, 2023 [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=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_colorado_by_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  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=2023. 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, 2023
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=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/colorado-cities?period=2023.
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 15,032 in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Fountain, CO, with 479 in 2023.

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