Arapahoe County, Colorado Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Arapahoe County, Colorado, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Arapahoe County, Colorado. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Arapahoe County, Colorado. The estimated population of Arapahoe County, Colorado is 651,621 people, with a median age of 37.

We can look at the total population in Arapahoe County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
651,621
+0.25%
+3.99%
2020
649,980
+0.84%
-
2019
644,560
+1.24%
-
2018
636,671
+1.61%
-
2017
626,612
 - -

Population of Arapahoe County, Colorado by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
58.5%
61.3%
 -4.57%
Black/African American
10.7%
10.2%
 +4.90%
Native
0.3%
0.3%
 0.00%
Hispanic
19.9%
18.9%
 +5.29%
Asian
6.2%
5.6%
 +10.71%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.2%
0.2%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
4%
3.2%
 +25.00%
Other
0.3%
0.3%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Arapahoe County, Colorado by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 37 +0.54% 36 +1.12% 38 -0.26%
2020 36.8 +0.55% 35.6 +0.28% 38.1 +0.53%
2019 36.6 +0.27% 35.5 +0.57% 37.9 +0.53%
2018 36.5 +0.27% 35.3 0% 37.7 +0.27%
2017 36.4 - 35.3 - 37.6 -

The median age of Arapahoe County, Colorado gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 42,580 -4.12% 39,899 +0.42% 40,828 40,045
10 to 19 42,705 +5.31% 40,696 +0.73% 45,003 40,983
20 to 29 43,489 +3.78% 42,705 +1.32% 45,126 43,260
30 to 39 46,293 +10.32% 45,158 +7.31% 51,252 48,545
40 to 49 43,664 +4.57% 44,809 +1.1% 45,683 45,300
50 to 59 40,299 -1.68% 42,548 -4.25% 39,626 40,753
60 to 69 30,324 +10.82% 34,044 +6.19% 33,735 36,193
70+ 19,836 +18.23% 27,563 +13.91% 23,697 31,592

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Arapahoe County, Colorado is $84,947.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Arapahoe County.

  • Under 25
    $52,957.00
  • 25 to 44
    $88,430.00
  • 45 to 64
    $99,985.00
  • 65 and over
    $64,436.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Arapahoe County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Arapahoe County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Arapahoe County, Colorado is currently $116,119.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

12.45% of households in Arapahoe County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Arapahoe County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    10.51%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    16.40%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    17.24%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    13.48%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    19.71%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    10.21%
  • $200,000 or more
    12.45%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Arapahoe County is $45,046.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Arapahoe County by the total population of Arapahoe County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Arapahoe County, Colorado, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Arapahoe County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    19.29%
  • Bachelor's degree
    43.71%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    8.77%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    25.78%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.44%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Arapahoe County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Arapahoe County over the age of 16 is 517,135.

Of those people, a total of 71.50% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Arapahoe County is 67.90%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 32,373 47.00% 17.20%
20 to 24 years 38,442 82.10% 5.80%
25 to 29 years 49,944 88.80% 4.60%
30 to 34 years 51,496 86.10% 5.00%
35 to 44 years 95,423 86.30% 4.00%
45 to 54 years 84,337 86.40% 3.40%
55 to 59 years 39,903 80.60% 3.20%
60 to 64 years 39,054 68.40% 2.90%
65 to 74 years 54,935 31.90% 2.90%
75 years and over 31,228 9.00% 2.10%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Arapahoe County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 359,871 70.80% 4.10%
Black or African American 55,037 73.50% 7.00%
American Indian and Alaska Native 3,564 75.00% 7.70%
Asian 32,513 67.60% 3.20%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 1,158 77.30% 3.00%
Other 28,731 75.60% 4.10%
Two or more races 36,261 75.40% 6.70%
Hispanic or Latino 90,772 76.40% 5.00%
Not Hispanic or Latino 320,430 69.90% 4.00%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Arapahoe County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Arapahoe County is 351,117, with median earnings of $47,521.00.

Women in Arapahoe County, Colorado earning approximately 76.60% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 351,117 $47,521.00
Male 186,438 $53,873.00
Female 164,679 $41,290.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 42,510 $82,997.00
Business and Financial 25,768 $69,732.00
Computer and Mathematical 19,303 $90,022.00
Architecture and Engineering 9,165 $85,206.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 3,188 $62,302.00
Community and Social Service 5,783 $47,635.00
Legal 4,644 $85,484.00
Educational and Library 18,082 $44,040.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 7,377 $44,952.00
Healthcare Practitioners 18,868 $68,053.00
Healthcare Support 10,422 $31,444.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 4,455 $36,284.00
Law Enforcement 2,281 $80,039.00
Food Preparation and Serving 18,706 $20,841.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 9,865 $25,809.00
Personal Care and Service 9,347 $21,733.00
Sales 34,356 $41,996.00
Office and Administrative Support 41,490 $40,060.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 692 $26,657.00
Construction and Extraction 17,969 $42,779.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 8,961 $52,371.00
Production 11,979 $35,752.00
Transportation and Material Moving 14,185 $42,607.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 23,803 $99,155.00 18,707 $69,801.00
Business and Financial 12,013 $76,951.00 13,755 $64,406.00
Computer and Mathematical 15,010 $93,325.00 4,293 $82,236.00
Architecture and Engineering 7,655 $88,581.00 1,510 $71,341.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 1,632 $62,500.00 1,556 $62,234.00
Community and Social Service 1,636 $51,319.00 4,147 $46,026.00
Legal 2,382 $112,234.00 2,262 $66,071.00
Educational and Library 4,999 $49,225.00 13,083 $42,570.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 3,885 $56,499.00 3,492 $39,124.00
Healthcare Practitioners 5,174 $83,290.00 13,694 $65,104.00
Healthcare Support 1,825 $32,388.00 8,597 $31,257.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 3,056 $38,811.00 1,399 $31,920.00
Law Enforcement 1,677 $84,818.00 604 $55,771.00
Food Preparation and Serving 9,003 $23,666.00 9,703 $19,137.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 5,584 $31,918.00 4,281 $20,840.00
Personal Care and Service 2,126 $23,967.00 7,221 $21,382.00
Sales 17,786 $55,154.00 16,570 $31,319.00
Office and Administrative Support 12,459 $41,140.00 29,031 $39,590.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 438 $32,829.00 254 $11,406.00
Construction and Extraction 17,286 $43,210.00 683 $17,292.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 8,411 $53,421.00 550 $46,667.00
Production 7,963 $41,129.00 4,016 $26,482.00
Transportation and Material Moving 11,980 $44,434.00 2,205 $35,056.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 247,251 households in Arapahoe County, with an average household size of 2.61 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 161,271 families in Arapahoe County with an average family size of 3.21 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 121,922 12,322 27,027 85,980
Average Household Size 3.27 3.32 3.45 1.31
Total Families 121,922 12,322 27,027 0
Average Household Size 3.24 2.97 3.21 0

Poverty

Of the 161,271 families in Arapahoe County, 5.10% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Arapahoe County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 259,291 housing units in Arapahoe County, Colorado.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 247,251 95.36%
Vacant 12,040 4.64%

32.83% of the total 259,291 housing units in Arapahoe County are rental units. This is approximately 85,137 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 160,372 are occupied by the owner - or 61.85% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Arapahoe County is $1,556.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Arapahoe County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    1,742
  • Less than $500
    2,404
  • $500 to $999
    6,735
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    30,282
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    28,154
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    12,039
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    3,904
  • $3,000 or more
    1,619

Property Value

The median value of a property in Arapahoe County is $415,500.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Arapahoe County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    2,922
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    1,616
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    2,396
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    4,720
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    22,463
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    75,878
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    42,250
  • $1,000,000 or more
    8,127

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Arapahoe County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Arapahoe County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    4,597
  • 1940 to 1949
    3,344
  • 1950 to 1959
    16,045
  • 1960 to 1969
    19,716
  • 1970 to 1979
    59,055
  • 1980 to 1989
    57,844
  • 1990 to 1999
    36,776
  • 2000 to 2009
    40,276
  • 2010 to 2013
    20,905
  • 2014 or later
    733

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Arapahoe County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    11,940
  • 1 vehicle available
    76,993
  • 2 vehicles available
    99,689
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    58,629

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Arapahoe County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Arapahoe County that commute to work in a particular way.

27.9 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Arapahoe County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    5,047
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    19,216
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    29,193
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    40,093
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    50,195
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    25,409
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    53,372
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    13,399
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    14,559
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    26,276
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    15,596
  • 90 or more minutes
    6,170

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Arapahoe County, Colorado in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Arapahoe County, Colorado

We have data for 24 places in Arapahoe County, Colorado. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.