State demography office: Pueblo County population is aging; growth to 2033 concentrated among 65+

Nancy Gideon, a demographer with the Colorado State Demography Office at the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, told the Pueblo County Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 28 that Pueblo County’s population is aging and that most projected growth over the next decade will be among residents age 65 and older.

Gideon said Colorado remains a growing state but that growth has slowed in recent years because of falling birth rates, rising deaths and smaller net migration than in prior decades. She told commissioners the state is forecasting roughly 660,000 additional people by 2033 — an 11 percent increase — and that about 270,000 of those additional residents will be age 65 and older.

For Pueblo County specifically, Gideon said the office projects slower overall growth — about 5.6…