Every day in Weld County, new residents cross county lines from the south and west, fleeing the more-expensive housing markets of Boulder, Broomfield or the rest of metro Denver.
Babies are being born at the county鈥檚 two full-service hospitals: Banner North Colorado Medical Center and UCHealth Greeley Hospital, with births accounting for half of the county鈥檚 new residents.
Other newcomers hail from out of state, lured by jobs in agriculture, energy, manufacturing or other sectors.
Every day in Weld County, new residents cross county lines from the south and west, fleeing the more-expensive housing markets of Boulder, Broomfield or the rest of metro Denver.
Babies are being born at the county鈥檚 two full-service hospitals: Banner North Colorado Medical Center and UCHealth Greeley Hospital, with births accounting for half of the county鈥檚 new residents.
Other newcomers hail from out of state, lured by jobs in agriculture, energy, manufacturing or other sectors.
And 鈥� at least compared with the rest of the state.
Weld County added more new residents than any other Colorado county from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024, beating out Douglas County.
The data come from the latest county population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time Thursday.
Weld added 9,529 new residents during that 12-month span, compared with 8,854 for No. 2 Douglas County. Weld鈥欌�檚 population grew at an annual rate of 2.6% 鈥� No. 1 among Colorado counties with 1,000 or more population, and No. 2 overall, behind only tiny San Juan County, which recorded 3% growth.
Population in Weld County totaled 369,745 in 2024, compared with 360,216 the prior year. Weld County ranks as the eighth-most-populous county in the state, but is right on the heels of Larimer County, with an estimated 2024 population of 374,574, up 0.8% from 371,530. Larimer added 3,044 new residents last year.
鈥淚鈥檓 not surprised,鈥� said Phyllis Resnick, executive director and lead economist at the Colorado Futures Center, a nonprofit affiliated with Colorado State University, when asked about Weld County leading the state in growth. 鈥淚f you would have called me yesterday and said, 鈥楾hese numbers are coming out, which do you think is going to be the fastest-growing county?鈥� it probably would have been the one I would have thought of.鈥�
Rich Werner, president and CEO of Upstate Colorado Economic Development, said the latest data validate predictions from the Colorado State Demography Office.
鈥淚t proves that our demography officials are correct,鈥� Werner said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been predicting these numbers for years, and the numbers have held true. And so, with that growth that we are continually talking about, it means that we need to continue to prepare for this growth, to accommodate this growth, as it relates to infrastructure, as it relates to additional services, as it relates to supporting the businesses that are coming here, to facilitate this population.鈥�
Resnick said that Weld County鈥檚 economic diversity makes it attractive for new residents.
鈥淲eld has a combination of a pretty strong industrial base between manufacturing and oil and gas and agriculture, so it鈥檚 been a county of opportunity for quite a while,鈥� Resnick said.
The county also enjoys housing that is more affordable than much of the rest of the Interstate 25 and Interstate 70 corridors, Resnick noted.
鈥淚t provides an opportunity for you to have a house and work in industries that can support your family,鈥� she said.
Werner said that in addition to agriculture, energy and manufacturing, Weld is seeing other industries grow, including aerospace, distribution and life sciences.
Weld County 鈥� in addition to adding the most new residents over the one-year period 鈥� has added the most new residents since the April 1, 2020 population estimates base, with 40,759 added during that period. Douglas County was No. 2, with 36,005 added.
Twenty-five of Colorado鈥檚 64 counties lost population during that period, including Boulder and Jefferson.
Half of Weld County鈥檚 one-year population gain came from births, with 4,815 births from 2023 to 2024. The county recorded 19,737 births since the April 1, 2020, estimates base.
Among other counties in the region, for one-year growth:
- Adams County grew by 7,296, to 542,973, up 1.4% from 535,677.
- Arapahoe County grew by 5,054, to 666,918, up 0.8% from 661,864.
- Boulder County grew by 1,843, to 330,262, up 0.6% from 328,419.
- Broomfield County grew by 1,294, to 78,323, up 1.7% from 77,029.
- Denver County grew by 7,652, to 729,019, up 1.1% from 721,367.
- Douglas County grew by 8,854, to 393,995, up 2.3% from 385,141.
- Jefferson County grew by 840, to 578,533, up 0.1% from 577,693.
Counties constituting the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado 鈥� Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld 鈥� accounted for 28% of the state鈥檚 net population growth from 2023 to 2024.
Colorado added 56,154 residents during that time, according to the latest estimate, reaching a population of 5,957,493. The four counties added 15,710 new residents, for a total of 1,152,904.
Nationally, almost two-thirds of the 3,144 counties in the 50 states and the District of Columbia recorded population gains last year, with large counties posting faster growth and small counties seeing population declines, according to the Census Bureau.
Large counties with populations of more than 100,000 grew on average by 1.1%, up from 1% in 2023. Among the 737 smallest counties with populations below 10,000, the average annual decrease was 0.2% in 2024, compared with a 0.1% decrease from 2022 to 2023.
