Denver Economy: Aerospace, Energy, and the Front Range

The Denver metro area — formally Denver-Aurora-Centennial — is the largest metro economy in the Mountain West and the corporate hub for a wide stretch of the western United States. It is anchored by aerospace and defense employers, a major energy sector that runs on Colorado oil and gas, and a fast-growing tech and professional-services cluster that draws workers from coastal metros every year.

This is a plain-English tour of how the Denver metro economy works. For the state-level picture, see Colorado Economy. For the country-level view, see The State of the U.S. Economy and the broader Economy hub and city cluster.

How big is the Denver metro economy?

For example, recent metro GDP for Denver-Aurora-Centennial has run around $260 billion, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Metro population is roughly 3.0 million, per the U.S. Census Bureau. That makes the Denver metro larger by population than 18 of the 50 U.S. states.

The biggest industries

A handful of sectors do most of the work in the Denver metro economy:

• Aerospace and defense — Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Ball Aerospace, Raytheon, and a long list of contractors run major operations along the Front Range. Buckley Space Force Base anchors a large military and space-systems workforce.
• Energy — many oil and gas firms keep corporate headquarters and back-office operations in Denver, even when their wells sit in the Permian, the Bakken, or the DJ Basin to the northeast.
• Tech and software — a fast-growing cluster of cloud, fintech, and enterprise-software firms, accelerated by remote-work migration from California and the Northeast.
• Healthcare — UCHealth, HealthONE, Centura Health, and Kaiser Permanente together employ huge numbers of workers across the metro.
• Telecom and media — Dish Network, Comcast's regional operations, and a long history of cable and satellite firms run big operations in the metro.
• Higher education and research — the University of Colorado system, Colorado School of Mines (in nearby Golden), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory anchor large research and teaching workforces.
• Tourism and hospitality — skiing in the Rockies, a year-round event calendar, and Denver International Airport drive a major travel sector.

Jobs and wages

Metro labor data is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Mountain-Plains region. For example, the Denver metro unemployment rate has typically run close to or a tick below the national average, helped by steady in-migration and a broad industry base.

The City and County of Denver sets its own local minimum wage above Colorado's statewide rate, which is itself well above the federal floor of $7.25. The latest rates are at the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

Cost of living

Denver's cost of living has risen well above the national average, especially for housing. For example, recent HUD Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom in the metro has run around $2,000 a month, with central Denver, Boulder, and the Tech Center higher and parts of Adams County and Aurora lower. Current county-level numbers are at HUD User.

The federal government tracks region-specific inflation data through the BLS Mountain-Plains region. Denver's CPI has run a touch above the national average in recent years.

Taxes in Denver

Colorado has a flat state income tax, with one of the lower flat rates in the country. Combined sales tax in the City and County of Denver is around 8.81%, made up of the state's 2.9% base plus city, county, and special-district pieces. Property taxes are moderate by U.S. standards. State rules live at the Colorado Department of Revenue, and you can read more about how sales tax works in our glossary.

How the Denver metro fits into the national picture

Denver sits at the corporate crossroads of the western U.S. — a single time zone away from both coasts, with one of the busiest airports in the country and a quality-of-life draw that attracts younger workers. The combination of aerospace, energy, healthcare, and tech gives the metro a broad industrial base that absorbs national downturns better than metros built on a single sector.

The Front Range

The Front Range is the corridor of cities that runs along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, from Pueblo through Colorado Springs and Denver up to Fort Collins. Many workers and companies treat it as a single economic region — Boulder's tech firms recruit from Denver, Lockheed Martin's facilities span multiple cities, and the universities are spread along the corridor. Federal data on the Front Range labor market lives at the BLS Mountain-Plains region.

A note on the numbers

Numbers in this article change every quarter — always check the latest from BEA, BLS, and HUD User for the most current data on the Denver metro.