Yes. And… Colorado.

A Research Series

About the series

You've heard plenty about what's hard for Colorado business right now. Yes. And…Colorado is a series of insight studies, speaking events, and community forums, built on real data, to tell the whole story.

Every conversation about doing business in Colorado seems to start in the same place these days. Costs are up. Regulation is a concern. Hiring is competitive. All of that is fair, and none of it should be waved away. But at some point those concerns stopped being part of the conversation and became the whole thing.

The Front Range still has real advantages, and they're the kind that are hard for other markets to build from scratch. People who move here tend to stay. The state's actual policy record is steadier than its reputation. Several industry clusters here compete at an international level. Workers of all ages keep choosing this place. We went looking for the evidence, and we found more of it than we expected.

Both things can be true.

"Yes. And…" isn't a way of dodging the hard parts. It's how anyone who does real business here would actually describe the situation. Costs have gone up, and so has personal income. The legislature gets a lot of attention, and Colorado's voting history has been more moderate than some people assume. Talent is expensive to win, and once you have it, this is one of the easiest places in the country to keep it. If you're deciding whether to expand here, hire here, or stay, you need the whole picture.

Map of the United States with Colorado highlighted by a starburst badge

Why this series exists

You probably already suspected the rhetoric was overblown. What you may not have is a good answer ready when it comes up, in a board meeting or from a candidate weighing an offer in another state. That's what this is for. Every brief gives you the data and the language to go with it, short enough to remember and clearly sourced so you can say it out loud without wondering where it came from.

Paper-cut illustration of an office desk overlooking a Colorado city skyline with a hot-air balloon

What The Research Actually Shows:

Talent and Workforce

Educational Attainment

Denver South has a highly educated population: 63.5% of adults 25 and over hold at least a bachelor's degree, with nearly a quarter holding graduate or professional degrees.

% of Denver South Population Over 25 Years of Age

Bachelor's Degree 39.1%
Graduate or Professional Degree 24.4%
Total Bachelor's Degree or Higher 63.5%
2024 • Source: U.S. Census Bureau
denver-south.com/regional-snapshot/economic-profiles

Workforce Plans

Executives reported mixed but generally stable workforce expectations for the next 12 months.

Colorado Workforce Plans over the next 12 months.

Survey period Expanding Workforce Presence Within Colorado Expanding Workforce Presence Outside of Colorado Reducing Workforce Presence Within Colorado Considering Leaving Colorado No Change
Fall '25 33%14%22%3%28%
Spring '26 32%13%12%2%42%
Source: Colorado Business Roundtable (COBRT)
cobrt.com/report/spring-2026-executive-outlook-survey

Regional Collaboration

59 Local Governments. 1 Regional Economy.

  1. 59 DRCOG Member Governments
  2. Regional Transportation System
  3. Shared Labor Market
  4. Shared Housing Market
  5. Shared Infrastructure
  6. Shared Air Quality
  7. Shared Water Resources

DRCOG already has a particularly useful example of pooled resources: its regional aerial-imagery program coordinates acquisition on behalf of 50+ public entities and local governments. data.drcog.org

Who we are

We're not trying to sell you on Colorado. We're not interested in cheerleading, and we're not interested in gloom either. We care about getting it right, because leaders make better calls with better information, and the information out there has gotten pretty one-sided.

Consider this chapter one. New findings drop over the coming months, each one adding evidence to the picture.