Moving Out of Colorado – Data Shows More People Left the State than Moved to Colorado in 2022.
In the last decade or so, Colorado became known as a state where people wanted to visit and live. After the recession in 2008, the state saw significant growth as people moved to the Centennial State in high numbers.
During the pandemic and shortly after, Colorado also saw growth as people looked to move away from the crowded cities near the coasts. People moved in droves to smaller, rural areas that were not as densely populated. Some moved for health reasons while others were able to relocate due to their jobs shifting to remote work. According to estimates made by the U.S. Census Bureau, the state had 4.89 million people and in July 2022 the population is estimated to be 5.83 million.
But as more people came to the state over the last several years, residents saw the state change. Housing costs skyrocketed and other things like crime have made people rethink living in Colorado.
According to KDVR, the 2022 United Van Lines movers study showed that more people moved out of Colorado during 2022 than moved to the state. In fact, Colorado lost 3.2 percent more people than it gained in 2022.
The mover’s study shows that 2022 was the first year since at least 2014 when more people left than entered the state. In 2014, 55 percent of the mover traffic was inbound (to the state) and 45 percent was outbound (moving out of the state). Things started to change in 2021 when the amount of people leaving and entering was about the same with 50 percent moving outbound and 50 percent moving inbound.
Reasons People are Moving Out of Colorado
The study says that the biggest three reasons people said why they moved away from Colorado were family, job, and retirement. Even though more people left Colorado than came in 2022, it did not make the top ten list of states people were leaving. New Jersey, Illinois, and New York were the top three states people fled last year. And, the top three states people chose to move to were Vermont, Oregon, and Rhode Island.
And according to CBS News, fewer people are moving to Colorado than they were 12 years ago. Over a decade ago, people were moving to the Denver Metro area, but data shows that starting in 2021 more people started moving from the metro to other parts of the state and to different states.
“I think mainly the moving out of Colorado has to do with affordability, that’s the number one reason that I see that happen,” said Kelly Moye, a realtor in the northern Denver metro area and spokesperson for the Colorado Association of Realtors told CBS News.
Moye said that people have been leaving the expensive metro area to get more bang for their buck when it comes to housing. She also said that as the metro area became more densely populated, people moved away for more space.
Sunny Banka, a real estate agent in the southern Denver metro area, also with the Colorado Association of Realtors, said that many of her clients told her that the reasons they left the state were political. “It’s also something that I’m seeing in my own real estate career that I haven’t seen in the past 44 years, where we’ve had a kind of an exodus of clients selling their homes in Colorado, and moving to other states, and some of the interesting reasoning behind that is … I’ve had many that will tell you that they’ve gone for freedom, because of some of the politics in Colorado and some of the changes that we are seeing, because of some of the political actions that have been taken, you know, at the state level and locally as well,” Banka explained.
She said that in just one year she had 20 clients move to Florida. Information provided by the Census Bureau showed that between 2015 and 2019 most Coloradans moved to states like Texas, California, Arizona, and Florida.
One of Banka’s clients that moved to Florida was Krista Barker, who said that politics and crime were major reasons for her move. “Crime, homeless, political atmosphere. It was time to pack up, go closer to family,” she said when CBS News asked her why she decided to leave. “I would walk every morning with my dog and every evening with my dog. Unfortunately, it got to a point in the area where I walked where the homeless were setting up tents. You would run across syringes and bullet casings. You would hear gunshots in the middle of the night… It was not safe anymore.”
Possible Political Impacts of People Moving Out of Colorado
In the years after the pandemic, nationwide people started leaving Democrat-controlled states and moving to more conservative, red states. According to Wall Street Journal (WSJ) economics reporter Josh Mitchell, economic incentives were the major drivers behind the major move out of blue cities.
Mitchell said on the WSJ Podcast that cities in states like Arizona, Tennessee, and Florida are starting to see home price growth due to more people moving there. “And so we’re seeing sort of the process that we’ve seen happen in San Francisco and LA and New York City over the past 20 years, that’s now starting to happen in some of these other cities,” Mitchell said on the podcast. “The good thing is that there’s been a spreading of wealth around the country. Not everyone is enjoying this wealth, but when you start to see home prices rise in these areas that hadn’t seen home price growth in the past, they’re now getting a piece of the pie that was really being consumed mostly by New Yorkers and Californians and people in DC.”
But he did say that the states that people have left have seen some issues. He gave an example of a school district in northern California having to close schools due to people moving away at high rates.
Since Colorado started to grow in the 2010s, the state has turned into being entirely Democrat-controlled at the state level. Many say that the influx of people moving to Colorado from other states has added to the population of Democrats in the state.
And since many conservatives have been leaving due to the political changes, Colorado could remain blue for some time. As Republicans leave the state and Democrats move to it, Democrats could keep growing their majority and their political control within state lines.
But according to an article published by Rocky Mountain PBS, experts say that Colorado Springs could keep its strong conservative base as the city grows in the future. University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) professor and chair of the Department of Political Science Josh Dunn told PBS that it would take a lot for the Colorado Springs area to change from being the third-most Republican district in the country.
“A lot of the reason is that people moving here over the years tend to self-select,” Dunn said. “They’re more Republican and more conservative. Many people work for or retire from the military in Colorado Springs.”
The demographics in Colorado Springs is changing and looks like it will lose its title of “Third Most Republican District” in the country. The last city election has proved that so far. Unless, the Republicans in the city are tired of current crop of “Conservative” Republicans.
The state demographer stated to a packed room at the El Pomar that “growth is slowing in Colorado, El Paso County, and Colorado Springs.” One could hear a pin drop.
So, to pose the question, “With the construction of 10,000 apartments being built in Colorado Springs, where are the 10,000 jobs and the 10,000 people, making $80-$100K, coming from to support those 10,000 apartments?”
As for military personnel, they are becoming more progressive and less conservative.
As an addendum: 74% of the U.S. GDP is generated by blue counties in the U.S. So, to pose the next question, “Do you want to belong to a county that generates part of 74% of GDP or do you want to belong to a county that generates very little to the U.S. GDP because Colorado Springs considers “Troops & Tourism” a viable economic plan?
Colorado Springs is looking like Aurora, not good, “see open land , oh it’s an apartment shortage.” There is no thought or design placed, in the building. Should, Williams wonder why he lost the mayor race, he can looked at his greased palms and all the building, along with bringing in Dominion voting machines. No room for RINO’s Wayne. The professor, at UCCS needs to re-think his statement, the springs is RINO, same as Democrat(aka Communist)not Republican. Colorado is not the Colorado I grew up in, due to the progressive push. GOV POLIS, should go back to LaJolla, CA where he went to LaJolla Day School, he may have been born in Colorado, left as baby , to California. He is not a Coloradian!!!!! Now we are Calirado, YUK. That is why more people are leaving Colorado, and they are the hard working, freedom loving Coloradians, not the transplants, that ruined it.