Rankings

Metro Denver’s mild climate and wealth of recreational activities make this the perfect environment for energetic bodies. Its educational and cultural opportunities make it the ideal home for energetic minds. In fact, Denver ranks first among the nation’s most desirable places to live, according to a 2009 poll by the Pew Research Center. Below are a few highlights:

Business Climate

Colorado is No. 3 among America’s Top States for Business, ranking highly for economy, business friendliness, and access to capital
- CNBC, 2010

Colorado is ranked as the No. 1 state for labor supply and No. 6 for its economic climate ranking the state as the fourth-best state overall for business
- Forbes, 2010

Colorado ranks second in Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants, third in venture capital investments per $1,000 for State GDP, and fourth in number of new companies per 1,000 employees
-Toward a More Competitive Colorado, Sixth Edition, 2010

Denver is ranked the third-best metro region in the nation for business
-MarketWatch, 2009

Metro Denver has the nation’s third-strongest metro area economy. The 2010 Economic Strength Rankings study combined long-term measures of income, jobs in growth-sensitive sectors, and public assistance distributions to evaluate the breadth and depth of economic growth in each of the nation’s 366 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs)
- Policom Corporation, 2010

Colorado is one of five states that will lead the national economic recovery due to its high-tech industry base and the fact that the state was one of the last to join the national recession
- Moody’s.com, 2009

Colorado had a 1.81 percent population growth rate between 2008 and 2009, the fourth-highest in the nation
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2009 

Workforce

Denver is the No. 1 city where people most want to live
- Pew Research Center, 2009

Colorado ranks first in top-scoring students in ACT and SAT tests
- NCHEMS Information Center, 2010

Colorado is the second-most highly educated state
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2010

Colorado ranks third in tech-worker concentration
- TechAmerica, 2010

Colorado ranks eighth in the U.S. for scientists & engineers as a percent of the workforce
- National Science Foundation, 2010

Health & Wellness

Colorado has the nation’s lowest obesity rate
- Trust for America’s Health, 2010

Colorado residents fill the second-fewest drug prescriptions per capita
- Kaiser Family Foundation’s State Health Facts, 2010

Metro Denver is the nation’s third-fittest metro area based on healthcare access, community support for physical activity, and preventative health measures
- American College of Sports Medicine and WellPoint Foundation, Inc., 2009

People living in Western states are happier than those living in other parts of the country—residents in Colorado have among the highest well-being in the country
- Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, 2009

Boulder is top in the “America’s Top 5 Towns to Live Well” report, registering well for venture capital funding, workforce, and access to cultural amenities
- Forbes, 2009

Colorado has the third-fewest heart disease deaths and fourth-fewest diabetes and cancer deaths
- Kaiser Family Foundation’s State Health Facts, 2010

Infrastructure

Denver International Airport is the fifth-busiest U.S. airport and is 10th-busiest in the world
- Federal Aviation Administration, 2010

FasTracks is the largest simultaneous construction of a mass transit system in U.S. history
- American Public Transportation Association

The Regional Transportation District (RTD) was voted the best transit organization in North America in 2008
- American Public Transportation Association (APTA)

Denver is the largest U.S. city with one-bounce satellite uplink capability for real-time connections to six out of seven continents in one business day
- Development Research Partners

Colorado produces the seventh-highest amount of total wind energy net generation
- Energy Information Administration, 2010

Colorado has the sixth-highest total solar energy installed capacity
- SNL Financial Operating Capacity Dataset, 2010

Up to 50 transit-oriented developments are planned along eight different light rail and commuter rail lines extending in all directions from the downtown core, making every corner of the region accessible to workers, residents, and visitors
- Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, 2010

Sustainability

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter is the Greenest Governor in the U.S., ranking high for his legislative initiatives and setting goals for the greening of state government
- Greenopia, 2009

The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden is the nation’s primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency R&D
- U.S. Department of Energy

The City and County of Denver’s Greenprint Denver is a national model for energy conservation and clean energy technology
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2009

Denver is the U.S.’s seventh “greenest” city
- The Business Courier of Cincinnati, 2010 Green Cities Index

Denver ranks No. 4 in the U.S. for Energy Star buildings
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2010

Colorado State University is building the world’s largest university-owned wind facility to power its entire campus
- Colorado State University, 2009

Colorado ranks fourth in the U.S. for renewable energy and energy research employment
- Development Research Partners, 2009

The Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver is LEED Gold certified – the first such museum in the country to earn the distinction
- Museum of Contemporary Art

The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) new Research Support Facility is one of the “greenest” buildings ever constructed
- NREL, 2010

Regionalism

Metro Denver’s successful regional economic development has been studied by U.S. cities like Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, San Diego, San Jose, St. Paul, and Milwaukee
- Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation

Over $40 million is distributed annually to 300 arts and culture organizations in Metro Denver
- Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, 2010

Culture in Metro Denver had a $1.7 billion economic impact in 2008
- Colorado Business Committee for the Arts

The economic vitality of Denver’s creative sector, or Creative Vitality Index (CVI), is almost three times greater than the national average
- Denver Office of Cultural Affairs, 2009