Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver region is part of the Front Range Urban Corridor. The

United States Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, poli ...

has delineated the

Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver re ...

consisting of ten Colorado

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

: the City and County of Denver, Arapahoe County,

Jefferson County Jefferson County may refer to one of several counties or parishes in the United States, all of which are named directly or indirectly after Thomas Jefferson: *Jefferson County, Alabama *Jefferson County, Arkansas *Jefferson County, Colorado **Jeffe ...

, Adams County, Douglas County, the City and County of Broomfield,

Elbert County Elbert County is the name of two counties in the United States: *Elbert County, Colorado *Elbert County, Georgia Elbert County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population ...

, Park County, Clear Creek County, and

Gilpin County Gilpin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado, smallest in land area behind only the City and County of Broomfield. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,808. The county seat is Central City. The county was formed in 1 ...

. The population, as of the 2020 Census, is 2,963,821, an increase of 16.5% since 2010. The Office of Management and Budget also delineated the more extensive 12-county Denver–Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area comprising the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood Metropolitan Statistical Area, the Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the

Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area Weld County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 328,981. The county seat is Greeley. Weld County comprises the Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Denver ...

. The central part of the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) includes Denver and three immediately adjacent counties: Jefferson County to the west, Adams County to the north and east, and Arapahoe County to the south and east. The continuously urbanized area extends northwest into the City and County of Broomfield, bordering Jefferson and Adams counties, and south into Douglas County, adjoining Arapahoe County. Also included in the federally defined MSA are four rural counties:

on the southeastern prairie and Clear Creek, Gilpin, and Park counties in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

Counties

The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood Metropolitan Statistical Area comprises ten counties. The sortable table below includes the following information: #The official name of the county, #The county population as of April 1, 2020, as enumerated by the 2020 United States census #The county population as of April 1, 2010, as enumerated by the 2010 United States Census, #The percent population change from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2017.

Metropolitan area cities and towns

Places with over 100,000 inhabitants

Arvada Arvada () is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson and Adams counties, Colorado, United States. The city population was 124,402 at the 2020 United States Census, with 121,510 residing in Jefferson County and 2,892 residing in Adams Co ...

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

Centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at a ...

(Principal city) *

Highlands Ranch Highlands Ranch is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The p ...

(CDP) * Lakewood * Thornton *

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...

Places with 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants

* Berkley (CDP) * Brighton * Broomfield * Castle Pines *

Castle Rock Castle Rock may refer to: Geography Islands * Castle Rock (Alaskan Island), an island off the coast of the U.S. state of Alaska * Castle Rock, Hong Kong (螺洲白排), an island of Hong Kong, part of the Po Toi Islands * Castle Rock (Massachusett ...

* Columbine (CDP) *

Commerce City The City of Commerce City is a home rule municipality located in Adams County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 62,418 at the 2020 United States Census, a 35.95% increase since the 2010 United States Census. Commerce City is th ...

* Englewood * Federal Heights * Golden * Greenwood Village * Ken Caryl (CDP) * Littleton * Lone Tree *

Northglenn The City of Northglenn is a home rule municipality located in Adams and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Northglenn is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census the city's populati ...

Parker Parker may refer to: Persons * Parker (given name) * Parker (surname) Places Place names in the United States *Parker, Arizona *Parker, Colorado *Parker, Florida *Parker, Idaho *Parker, Kansas *Parker, Missouri *Parker, North Carolina *Parker, Pe ...

* Sherrelwood (CDP) * The Pinery (CDP) * Welby (CDP) * Wheat Ridge

Places with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants

* Acres Green (CDP) * Applewood (CDP) *

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...

* Aspen Park (CDP) * Bailey * Black Hawk * Byers (CDP) * Carriage Club (CDP) *

Pines A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden a ...

(CDP) *

Central City In urban planning, a core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central city ...

* Cherry Hills Village * Coal Creek * Columbine Valley * Cottonwood (CDP) *

Deer Trail The Town of Deer Trail is a Statutory Town located in eastern Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,068 at the 2020 United States Census, a +95.60% increase since the 2010 United States Census. Deer Trail is a part ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

(CDP) * Downieville-Lawson-Dumont * East Pleasant View (CDP) * Edgewater * Elizabeth *

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

(CDP) *

Fairplay FairPlay is a digital rights management (DRM) technology developed by Apple Inc. It is built into the MP4 multimedia file format as an encrypted AAC audio layer, and was used until April 2009 by the company to protect copyrighted works sold thr ...

* Foxfield * Franktown (CDP) *

Genesee Genesee, derived from the Seneca word for "pleasant valley", may refer to: Geographic features Canada * Genesee, Alberta, an unincorporated community United States * Genesee, California *Genesee, Colorado *Genesee County, Michigan *Genesee C ...

(CDP) * Georgetown * Glendale * Grand View Estates (CDP) * Heritage Hills (CDP) * Idaho Springs * Indian Hills (CDP) *

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th a ...

* Kittredge (CDP) * Lakeside * Larkspur * Lochbuie *

Louviers Louviers () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in north-western France. Louviers is from Paris and from Rouen. Population History Prehistory In the area around Louviers, cut stones from the Paleolithic era have been found. S ...

(CDP) *

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

(CDP) *

Montbello Montbello is a neighborhood in the northeastern section of the City and County of Denver, Colorado. Montbello is one of Denver's largest neighborhoods, with over 9,000 housing units, and over 36,000 residents. Neighborhood facts Montbello be ...

(CDP) * Morrison * Mountain View * North Washington (CDP) * Perry Park (CDP) * Ponderosa Park (CDP) * Roxborough Park (CDP) * Sedalia (CDP) * Sheridan *

Silver Plume Silver Plume is a Statutory Town located in Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States. Silver Plume is a former silver mining camp along Clear Creek in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The federally designated Georgetown-Silver Plum ...

Simla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, the ...

* St. Mary's * Stonegate (CDP) * Strasburg (CDP) * Todd Creek (CDP) * Twin Lakes (CDP) * Westcreek (CDP) * West Pleasant View (CDP)

Communities previously part of the Denver metro area

Former Denver metro communities now part of the separate Boulder metropolitan area due to being located in Boulder County

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

Longmont The City of Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder and north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. Longmont' ...

* Lafayette *

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

Former Denver metro communities now part of the separate Greeley metropolitan area due to being located in Southwestern Weld County

* Dacono * Firestone * Fort Lupton *

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederi ...

Regional cooperation

The

Denver Regional Council of Governments 240px, A map showing counties included in the Denver Regional Council of Governments The Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG, ) is a nonprofit, membership organization of local governments in the Denver region of the state of Colorado. ...

(DRCOG, pronounced Doctor Cog) is a regional planning and inter-governmental coordination organization in a nine-county region. The

Scientific and Cultural Facilities District The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) is a special regional tax district of the State of Colorado that provides funding for art, music, theater, dance, zoology, botany, natural history, or cultural history organizations in the ...

(SCFD) provides funding for scientific and cultural facilities in a seven-county region including: *The

Denver Museum of Nature and Science The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is a municipal natural history and science museum in Denver, Colorado. It is a resource for informal science education in the Rocky Mountain region. A variety of exhibitions, programs, and activities help mus ...

*The

Denver Zoo Denver Zoo is an nonprofit zoological garden located in City Park of Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1896, it is operated by the Denver Zoological Foundation and funded in part by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD ...

*The

Denver Art Museum The Denver Art Museum (DAM) is an art museum located in the Civic Center of Denver, Colorado. With encyclopedic collections of more than 70,000 diverse works from across the centuries and world, the DAM is one of the largest art museums between ...

*The

Denver Center for the Performing Arts The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is an organization in Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 censu ...

*The Denver Botanic Gardens In addition, the

Regional Transportation District The Regional Transportation District, more commonly referred to as RTD, is the regional agency operating public transit services in eight out of the twelve counties in the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area in the U.S. state of Co ...

(RTD) provides

mass transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

, including a light rail system. In 2005 the RTD developed a twelve-year comprehensive plan, called "

FasTracks FasTracks is a multibillion-dollar public transportation expansion plan under construction in metropolitan Denver, Colorado, United States. Developed by the Regional Transportation District (RTD), the plan consists of new commuter rail, light r ...

", to build and operate

rail transit Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas. The set of urban rail systems can be roughly subdivided into the following categori ...

lines and expand and improve bus service throughout the region.

Economy

The most prosperous parts of the area are in the south and the northwest, while the most industrialized areas are in the northeast, specifically in the northern part of Denver proper and extending to areas such as

in Adams County. Changes in house prices for the area are publicly tracked on a regular basis using the

Case–Shiller index The Standard & Poor's CoreLogic Case–Shiller Home Price Indices are repeat-sales house price indices for the United States. There are multiple Case–Shiller home price indices: A national home price index, a 20-city composite index, a 10- ...

; the statistic is published by

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is co ...

and is also a component of S&P's 10-city composite index of the value of the residential real estate market. The Denver MSA is also home to one of the fastest growing tech scenes outside of Silicon Valley in the country. Electricity is provided by

Xcel Energy Xcel Energy Inc. is an American utility holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving more than 3.7 million electric customers and 2.1 million natural gas customers in Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico in 2019. It consists of four ope ...

. Cable television is provided by

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

Sports

The following table shows sports teams in the Denver metropolitan area that average more than 12,000 fans per game:

Air quality

The center of the metropolitan area sits in a valley, the

Denver Basin The Denver Basin, variously referred to as the Julesburg Basin, Denver-Julesburg Basin (after Julesburg, Colorado), or the D-J Basin, is a geologic structural basin centered in eastern Colorado in the United States, but extending into southeast W ...

, and suffers from

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

known colloquially as the ''brown cloud'', building up if the air is stagnant as it often is in the winter. Severity of pollution in this area has varied enormously over the years. In the late 1980s the area was frequently in violation of multiple

National Ambient Air Quality Standards The U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS, pronounced ) are limits on atmospheric concentration of six pollutants that cause smog, acid rain, and other health hazards. Established by the United States Environmental Protection Agen ...

established by the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it ...

(EPA). The Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) was formed in 1989 to create plans to address the problem. Through a variety of measures the area's air quality was improved and in 2002 the EPA designated the area in compliance with all federal health-based air quality standards. Denver was the first major city in the United States to reach compliance with all six of these standards after previously violating five of them. Since then the EPA introduced a new standard for small particulates and made the existing ozone standard stricter. In 2003 the new ozone standard was frequently exceeded in the area and was occasionally exceeded as far away as

Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is an American national park located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and ...

. The RAQC hopes to implement plans enabling the area to comply with the new standards by 2007.

Sister cities

Though Aurora, Boulder, Brighton, Broomfield, Denver, Lakewood, and Longmont have their own individual

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

relationships, the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) as a whole has a sister city relationship with the

Baghdad Governorate Baghdad Governorate ( ar, محافظة بغداد ''Muḥāfaẓät Baġdād''), also known as the Baghdad Province, is the capital governorate of Iraq. It includes the capital Baghdad as well as the surrounding metropolitan area. The governor ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

References

External links

Denver Regional Council of GovernmentsInternational MigrationRegional Air Quality CouncilRegional Transportation DistrictScience & Cultural Facilities DistrictUnited States Census Bureau

U.S. population estimates
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Co Metropolitan Statistical Area Geography of Denver Metropolitan areas of Colorado Geography of Aurora, Colorado

Counties

Metropolitan area cities and towns

Places with over 100,000 inhabitants

Places with 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants

Places with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants

Communities previously part of the Denver metro area

Former Denver metro communities now part of the separate Boulder metropolitan area due to being located in Boulder County

Former Denver metro communities now part of the separate Greeley metropolitan area due to being located in Southwestern Weld County

Regional cooperation

Economy

Sports

Air quality

Sister cities

See also

References

External links