Colorado’s surging median age is attributed to aging in place

In an ongoing series of stories focused on the dynamics of Colorado’s aging population, the Colorado Sun previously detailed some of the ways that the state is confronting the “silver tsunami” of people growing older while needing sufficient services to accommodate their needs.

While the state may not have the largest population of people in the 60-and-older bracket, it’s not far from the top of the list. And one of the reasons its population is aging so fast appears to be tied to Coloradans’ preferences for aging in place.

This is one of the insights shared in the latest Colorado Sun story that focuses on the dynamics of an aging population. The evolution is likely of interest to the reverse mortgage industry, since the Rocky Mountain region is one of 10 specific geographic areas measured by reverse mortgage data vendor Reverse Market Insight (RMI).

In April 2025, that region had the fourth-highest number of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements. GMFS Mortgage and Calcon Mutual Mortgage — which are top 25 HECM lenders, according to RMI — list Colorado as their highest-volume states for HECM loans.

The trend toward a higher median age of nearly 40 within the state represents the reversal of a trend where the population had been getting younger, according to the report. But the state’s birthrate has also been in decline, migration into the state has slowed and people who remain are starting to retire in greater numbers.

Kate Watkins, who became the Colorado state demographer in December, was blunt in her assessment of this trend.

“It’s largely aging in place,” she told the Sun. “And we’re seeing lower birth rates across counties. Some of our more rural counties tend to have, on average, slightly higher fertility rates than more metropolitan areas. But across the board, we’re aging in place.”

By 2050, the state projects that the median age will be 42.4 years, up from 38.5 years now. In the year 2000, the cohort of people who were 60 or older constituted just under 418,000 residents. In 2025, that number has risen to roughly 1.03 million — and it’s projected to reach more than 1.52 million in 2050.

Colorado is nowhere near the oldest state in the union — a distinction reserved for Maine. But as noted previously, it is third in terms of the fastest-growing 60-and-older populations, and it is aging more rapidly than most states in head-to-head data.

Colorado is also home to the fastest-growing labor force of workers who are at least 65. This group currently accounts for more than 22% of the state’s workforce, the Sun reported.

“The state demography office forecasts that workers 65 and older will more than triple between 2010 and 2050, with workers 75 and older quintupling,” the report explained.

Based on American Community Survey (ACS) data, the number of 60-plus households in Colorado also increased by 37% between 2013 and 2023 to reach about 800,000 households.