Colorado's population is really jumping

A sustained surge of new residents from abroad and other parts of the United States contributed to Colorado’s population jumping an estimated 95,267 people since 2006, according to government figures released today.

The state’s population hit an estimated 4,861,515 on July 1, the U.S. Census Bureau said. That’s an increase of 2 percent from a year earlier. Colorado was tied with Wyoming as the eighth-fastestgrowing state in the nation.

The population increase in Colorado is nearly the same number of people who live in Pueblo, or about 261 new residents every day.

Colorado’s population is up 13 percent since 2000.

Moving vans were the biggest heralds of Colorado’s population boom during the year that ended June 30. The Census Bureau estimated 51,819 more people moved in than moved out since 2006, including 18,381 people who came here from other countries. The second-biggest herald: crying babies. An estimated 43,446 more people were born than died in Colorado during the year.

The Census Bureau will release its 2007 estimates of county and city populations next year. The 2006 estimates put El Paso County at 576,884 residents, and Colorado Springs at 372,437.

The census figures show that the fastest-growing states continue to be in the Rocky Mountain region and Southeast. Texas also is still attracting new residents at a rapid rate.

Nevada regained the title of fastest-growing state, having increased in population by 2.9 percent to 2.6 million. Nevada held that title for 19 years in a row before being bumped off by Arizona last year. Arizona is the secondfastest-growing state according to the current estimate, with a population increase of 2.8 percent to 6.3 million.

Only two states lost population. Michigan’s population dipped by three-tenths of a percent and Rhode Island saw a decrease of four-tenths of a percent. Ohio’s growth was virtually flat. Florida, a state whose economy has been fueled largely by a steady stream of retirees crossing the border each year, gained in population but at a slower rate than usual. Florida was the 19th-fastest-growing state through June 30 compared with the previous year, when it ranked ninth.

Texas had the seventh-fastest growth by percentage and was tops numerically, having drawn about 500,000 new residents.

California remains the nation’s most populous state, with about 37 million people. It gained about 300,000 new residents, second to Texas numerically but 25th fastest by rate of growth, the same ranking as last year.

The total U.S. population was estimated at 301.6 million last July 1.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.