The U.S. State of Colorado has 273 active municipalities, comprising 198 towns, 73 cities, and two consolidated city and county governments. [1] [2] At the 2020 United States Census, 4,299,942 of the 5,773,714 Colorado residents (74.47%) lived in one of the 271 municipalities active at the time. [lower-alpha 1] [3] Another 714,417 residents (12.37%) lived in one of the 210 census-designated places, while the remaining 759,355 residents (13.15%) lived in the many rural and mountainous areas of the state. [3]
Colorado municipalities range in population from the City and County of Denver, the state capital, [4] with a 2020 population of 715,522, to the Town of Carbonate, which has had no year-round population since the 1890 Census due to its severe winter weather and difficult access. [3] [5] The City of Black Hawk with a 2020 population of 127 is the least populous Colorado city, while the Town of Castle Rock with a 2020 population of 73,158 is the most populous Colorado town. [1] [3]
In 2020, only 1,968 square miles (5,097 km2) of Colorado's 103,642 square miles (268,431 km2) of land area (1.90%) were incorporated in the 271 active municipalities. The City of Colorado Springs with 195 square miles (506 km2) of land area is the most extensive municipality, while the Town of Sawpit with 19 acres (0.078 km2) of land area is the least extensive. [6] The City of Glendale with a 2020 population density of 8,117 residents per square mile (3,134/km2) is the most densely populated municipality, while the Town of Bonanza with a 2020 population density of 38 residents per square mile (15/km2) is the least densely populated municipality after Carbonate.
Colorado municipalities operate under one of five types of municipal governing authority – consolidated city and county, home rule municipality, statutory city, statutory town, and territorial charter municipality. [1] State law makes relatively few distinctions between a city and a town. The charter of a home rule municipality may designate either a city or town municipal title. In general, cities are more populous than towns, although long-term population changes may skew this considerably, as illustrated by the City of Black Hawk and the Town of Castle Rock.
Neither village nor civil township is a type of civil division in the State of Colorado. The cities of Cherry Hills Village and Greenwood Village and the towns of Log Lane Village, Mountain Village, and Snowmass Village have the word "village" at the end of their names. [1]
Nineteen Colorado municipalities extend into two counties, while two cities – Aurora and Littleton – extend into three counties. [1]
In the State of Colorado, only Denver and Broomfield have consolidated city and county governments. The City and County of Denver operates under Article XX, Section 4 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado; and Title 30, Article 11, Section 101 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Denver has an elected mayor and a city council of 13 members with 11 members elected from council districts and two members elected at large. The City and County of Broomfield operates under Article XX, Sections 10–13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. Broomfield has an appointed city and county manager, an elected mayor, and a city council of 11 members composed of the mayor and two members elected from each of five wards.
Colorado has 62 cities and 38 towns that are home rule municipalities, which are self-governing under Article 20 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado; Title 31, Article 1, Section 202 of the Colorado Revised Statutes; and the home rule charter of each municipality. The state-authorized home rule charter determines the form of government. Home rule gives local municipalities the power to make legislation relevant to their areas, exercising control over issues of local concern while minimizing state intervention in municipal affairs. [7]
Colorado has 11 statutory cities that operate under Title 31, Article 1, Section 203 and Article 4, Section 100 or Section 200 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. [8] A statutory city must have a population of at least 2,000 at the time of incorporation or reorganization, although three have lost population since. [9] Statutory cities have an elected mayor and a city council composed of the mayor and two members elected from each ward. A statutory city may petition to reorganize as a Section 200 statutory city with an appointed city manager and a city council with two members elected from each ward and one member elected at large. The mayor may be the city council member elected at large or the city council may appoint a mayor.
Colorado has 159 statutory towns that operate under Title 31, Article 1, Section 203 and Article 4, Part 3 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. The statutory town of Creede uses the official title "City of Creede". [1] Garden City, Lake City, Orchard City, and Sugar City are statutory towns but use city at the end of their names. [1]
Statutory towns have an elected mayor and a board of trustees composed of the mayor and four or six additional members elected at large. Colorado statutory cities and towns are limited to exercising powers that are granted by the state and are subject to provisions and limitations imposed by the state [7] and are similar to villages in other states such as the villages of the State of New York.
The Town of Georgetown is the only municipality that still operates under a charter granted by the Territory of Colorado. The town operates under Article 14, Section 13 of the Charter & Constitution of the Colorado Territory enacted on January 28, 1868. The town mayor is called the police judge and the town council is called the board of selectmen. [10]
Select the OpenStreetMap link at the right to view the location of these 273 municipalities.
† | County seat |
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‡ | State capital |
Twenty-one active municipalities currently extend into more than one county. [1]
Municipality [1] | Counties [1] | 2020 Census population [3] | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | by county | % | ||
Arvada | Jefferson | 124,402 | 121,510 | 98% |
Adams | 2,892 | 2% | ||
Aurora | Arapahoe | 386,261 | 336,035 | 87% |
Adams | 47,720 | 12% | ||
Douglas | 2,506 | 1% | ||
Basalt | Eagle | 3,984 | 2,917 | 73% |
Pitkin | 1,067 | 27% | ||
Bennett | Adams | 2,862 | 2,443 | 85% |
Arapahoe | 419 | 15% | ||
Berthoud | Larimer | 10,332 | 10,071 | 97% |
Weld | 261 | 3% | ||
Bow Mar | Arapahoe | 853 | 587 | 69% |
Jefferson | 266 | 31% | ||
Brighton † | Adams [lower-alpha 18] | 40,083 | 39,718 | 99% |
Weld | 365 | 1% | ||
Center | Saguache | 1,929 | 1,885 | 98% |
Rio Grande | 44 | 2% | ||
Central City † | Gilpin [lower-alpha 30] | 779 | 779 | 100% |
Clear Creek | 0 | 0% | ||
Erie | Weld | 30,038 | 17,387 | 58% |
Boulder | 12,651 | 42% | ||
Green Mountain Falls | El Paso | 646 | 622 | 96% |
Teller | 24 | 4% | ||
Johnstown | Weld | 17,303 | 12,547 | 73% |
Larimer | 4,756 | 27% | ||
Littleton † | Arapahoe [lower-alpha 91] | 45,652 | 42,702 | 94% |
Jefferson | 2,310 | 5% | ||
Douglas | 640 | 1% | ||
Lochbuie | Weld | 8,088 | 8,087 | 99.99% |
Adams | 1 | 0.01% | ||
Longmont | Boulder | 98,885 | 97,587 | 99% |
Weld | 1,298 | 1% | ||
Northglenn | Adams | 38,131 | 38,106 | 99.93% |
Weld | 25 | 0.07% | ||
Superior | Boulder | 13,094 | 13,094 | 100% |
Jefferson | 0 | 0% | ||
Thornton | Adams | 141,867 | 141,867 | 100% |
Weld | 0 | 0% | ||
Timnath | Larimer | 6,487 | 6,482 | 99.92% |
Weld | 5 | 0.08% | ||
Westminster | Adams | 116,317 | 71,240 | 61% |
Jefferson | 45,077 | 39% | ||
Windsor | Weld | 32,716 | 24,997 | 76% |
Larimer | 7,719 | 24% |
For United States Census Bureau population estimates for Colorado municipalities as of July 1, 2022, see the List of Colorado municipalities by population. This list ranks municipalities by 2022 population and includes population changes since the 2000 United States Census. This list also includes links to maps of the municipalities and a gallery of the 20 most populous Colorado municipalities.
Colorado is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Colorado borders Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas to the east, Oklahoma to the southeast, New Mexico to the south, Utah to the west, and meets Arizona to the southwest at the Four Corners. Colorado is noted for its landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers, and desert lands. Colorado is one of the Mountain States and is often considered to be part of the southwestern United States. The high plains of Colorado may be considered a part of the midwestern United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is the eighth most extensive and 21st most populous U.S. state. The United States Census Bureau estimated the population of Colorado at 5,877,610 as of July 1, 2023, a 1.80% increase since the 2020 United States census.
Golden is a home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States Census. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Founded during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush on June 16, 1859, the mining camp was originally named Golden City in honor of Thomas L. Golden. Golden City served as the capital of the provisional Territory of Jefferson from 1860 to 1861, and capital of the official Territory of Colorado from 1862 to 1867. In 1867, the territorial capital was moved about 12 miles (19 km) east to Denver City. Golden is now a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor.
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 region is part of the Front Range Urban Corridor.
Silt is a statutory town in Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The population was 3,536 at the 2020 census, up from 2,930 at the 2010 census. The town is part of the Glenwood Springs Micropolitan Area.
The Town of Lakeside is a Statutory Town in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 16 at the 2020 United States Census, making Lakeside the least populous municipality in the State of Colorado. Lakeside is immediately west of the City and County of Denver, the most populous municipality in the state. The Denver Post Office serves Lakeside.
Sterling is a home rule municipality and the county seat and most populous municipality of Logan County, Colorado, United States. Sterling is the principal city of the Sterling, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city population was 13,735 at the 2020 census.
The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado.
The Provisional Government of the Territory of Jefferson was an extralegal and unrecognized United States territory that existed in the Pike's Peak mining region from October 24, 1859, until it yielded to the new Territory of Colorado on June 6, 1861. The Jefferson Territory, named for Founding Father and third United States president Thomas Jefferson, included land officially part of the Kansas Territory, the Nebraska Territory, the New Mexico Territory, the Utah Territory, and the Washington Territory, but the region was remote from the governments of those five territories.
The Louisville metropolitan area is the 43rd largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States. It had a population of 1,395,855 in 2020 according to the latest official census, and its principal city is Louisville, Kentucky.
The United States Office of Management and Budget has defined the 12-county Denver–Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area comprising the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, the Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population was 3,214,218 as of July 1, 2012, an increase of +3.99% since the 2010 United States Census, and ranking as the 16th most populous metropolitan combined statistical area and the 17th most populous primary statistical area of the United States. The population estimate for 2020 was 3,652,385.
This is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. State of Colorado.