Kate Watkins has stepped into the role of State Demographer following Elizabeth Garner’s retirement at the end of November, 2024.

Kate brings nearly two decades of experience analyzing economic and demographic trends in Colorado and beyond. Her career history includes serving as the Chief Economist for Colorado’s state legislature, as an economist at the Denver Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and as an economic consultant in the private sector. Kate holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Cornell University and a Master of Arts in Global Finance, Trade, and Economic Integration from the University of Denver. 

Kate looks forward to connecting with local governments, businesses, and communities across the state.

Contact Kate Watkins at kate.m.watkins@state.co.us

The 2024 State Demography Summit was held on Friday, November 1

The State Demography Summit is a one-day conference offering attendees the opportunity to learn about the most current population and economic estimates and forecasts for the state, its regions, counties and municipalities.

This year’s Summit featured presentations on:

• Vintage 2023 Population Estimates
• State and Regional economic trends
• Vintage 2023 Population Forecasts
• Preparation for the 2026 Census Test
• Changes to the Census Race and Ethnicity question
• The State Demography Website Tools, Applications, and Data Sets
• Trends in Aging in Colorado

Presentation slides have been posted on the Summit Section of the SDO webpage

The 2019-2023 edition of the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data will be released on Thursday, December 12.  This data set provides estimates of population characteristic for all geographies, from the nation as a whole to individual block groups. 

SDO will update its ACS spreadsheets, a set of formatted spreadsheets summarizing changes in population, housing tenure and housing costs, geographical mobility, educational attainment, language spoken at home and other topics from the 2019-2023 ACS for Colorado, its counties and its municipalities by the end of December.  These spreadsheets will be posted on the Census Data and Resources section of the SDO webpage.  Additional updates include new data in SDO’s interactive ACS map, SDO’s Census API, and the Colorado Community Profiles application.