ABSTRACT
Colorado's population characteristics are quite similar to those of the national matrix in which they are embedded. In comparison to the nation, Colorado's population is slightly younger and is growing faster. Coloradans are also more likely to be white and less likely to be foreign born than are populations in the rest of the country. Colorado's population appears to be experiencing growth that is often described as a boom. Clearly, the population is growing rapidly. Between 1970 and 1980, the state's population increased by more than half a million, from 2.2 million to nearly 2.9 million, an average increase of about 3.1 percent per year. Although net natural increase is an important component of population growth, Colorado's growth in the 1970s came more from in-migration. Between 1960 and 1970, 47 percent of the state's growth resulted from in-migration; between 1970 and 1977, this proportion rose to 61 percent.
