Metro Denver is a mile high above the rest.
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. Below are a few highlights:
Business Climate
Colorado is the nation’s third-most economically competitive state.
- Beacon Hill Institute, 2012
Metro Denver ranked first among 337 metro areas for absolute increase in construction employment between Feb. 2011 and 2012.
- Associated General Contractors of America, 2012
Metro Denver ranks eighth and Fort Collins ranks third among the 50 "Best Places for Business and Careers" in 2012.
- Forbes, 2012
Colorado is No. 8 among "America's Top States for Business," ranking highly for workforce, access to capital, business friendliness, and quality of life.
- CNBC, 2012
Colorado is the No. 5 "Best State For Business" in 2011, ranking as the No. 1 state for labor supply, No. 8 for growth prospects, and No. 10 for economic climate and quality of life.
- Forbes, 2011
Colorado ranks third 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, Seventh Edition, 2011
Denver is ranked as a top five city for telework.
- Microsoft 'Work Without Wall' Report: U.S. Telework Trends, 2011
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
In 2010, Colorado was the fourth-fastest growing state with a 1.5 percent population increase.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2010
Workforce
Metro Denver ranked first among large U.S. metros for total population gain in the 25- to 34-year age group between 2008 and 2010.
- Brookings Institution, 2011
Colorado ranked third in high-tech employment per 1,000 workers for the fifth consecutive year.
- TechAmerica, 2011
Colorado is the second-most highly educated state.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2010
Colorado has the third highest concentration of scientists and engineers in the nation.
- Milken Institute, 2010
Health & Wellness
Colorado has the nation's lowest obesity rate.
- Trust for America’s Health, 2011
Colorado ranks first in the nation on several health indicators including lowest adult obesity and highest teen consumption of fruits and vegetables.
- Colorado Health Foundation, 2011
Colorado ranks fifth on the Well-Being Index, measuring life situations, emotional health, physical health, healthy behaviors, work environment, and access to healthy living.
- Gallup-Healthways, 2010
Colorado has the third-fewest heart disease deaths and fourth-fewest diabetes and cancer deaths.
- Kaiser Family Foundation's State Health Facts, 2010
Infrastructure
FasTracks is the largest simultaneous construction of a mass transit system in U.S. history.
- American Public Transportation Association
Approximately 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, 2011
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
Denver International Airport is the fifth-busiest U.S. airport and is 10th-busiest in the world.
- Federal Aviation Administration, 2010
Colorado produces the eleventh-highest amount of total wind energy net generation.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2010
Sustainability
The Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden is the nation's primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency.
- U.S. Department of Energy
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
Colorado has more LEED-certified buildings than any other state.
- U.S. Green Building Council, 2011
Colorado is in the top five among clean-energy leadership states.
- Clean Edge, 2011
Colorado ranked as the nation’s fifth-most sustainable state.
- Site Selection magazine, “Green Guide," 2011
Colorado ranks fourth in the U.S. for renewable energy and energy research employment concentration.
- Development Research Partners, 2011
Denver ranked fifth in the U.S. and Canada Green City Index, a study recently conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of Siemens, ranking first overall in two categories—prevalence of green energy and environmental governance.
- Economist Intelligence Unit, 2011
Colorado ranks fifth for total megawatts of installed solar power systems.
- Solar Energy Industries Association, 2011
Colorado ranks sixth among the states for total amount of electricity generated from wind.
- American Wind Energy Association, 2011
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
Denver ranks fourth in the United States for Energy Star buildings.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 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
More than $40 million is distributed annually to 300 arts and culture organizations in Metro Denver.
- Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, 2010
Culture in Metro Denver generated nearly $1.5 billion in economic activity in 2009.
- Colorado Business Committee for the Arts