Where young professionals are moving to in Denver

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As anyone who has lived in Denver for a number of years can attest, the city is changing — the city center especially. A study from City Observatory looks at cities around the country to come up with a picture of the changing demographics of urban areas in America – particularly, where the coveted young professional is moving. Lucky for us, they’re moving here.

As a percentage of the entire adult population, the Denver area has one of the highest percentages of young professionals in the country – 7.5 percent. Only Washington DC, San Francisco, and Boston have a higher percentage, and only then by a small margin. Actually, Denver tied Silicon Valley’s notoriously brainy San Jose, and beat Austin by 0.5 percent.

But more than a general trend of young professionals in the city, the study highlights a more interesting issue. Unlike their parents, who fled to the suburbs, young professionals are moving back to the city center in droves. A whopping 31,000 residents of central Denver are between 25 and 34 and have a 4 year degree.

That makes central Denver the proud curator of the 8th largest population of young professionals in the country – way above the city’s overall population ranking of 22nd largest. We’re well ahead of much larger cities like Los Angeles, Houston and Atlanta, and even ahead of tech hubs like Seattle and Austin. What’s more, those numbers are from 2010 and represented a 51% increase over the decade before – and we can only assume the trend has continued.

This is good news for the city’s tech industry, as these young professionals are likely to be the people employed by startups and, in the not too distant future, they’re equally likely to run their own (if they don’t already).

So, if you are looking for a location for your new office, and you have a lot of young people working for you, central Denver looks like the place to be.

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