Denver, famed for its high elevation beauty at 5,280 feet, is growing – FAST!

WalletHub named Denver as the 5th fastest-growing large city in the nation for 2019. The ranking comes as no surprise to those who have felt “Mile High” growing pains. Denver continues to be one of the fastest-growing cities in Colorado, with an estimated population of 705,651 people and more in the surrounding metro area. Rising housing costs, heavy traffic, and ongoing construction are just a few of the downsides described by longtime residents.

Here’s a breakdown of all the rankings for Colorado.

Denver was ranked 5th, Aurora 14th, and Colorado Springs 29th in growth among “large” cities. The growth rankings for cities between 100,000 to 300,000 people are as follows: Greeley (15), Thornton (28), Fort Collins (43), Arvada (47), Centennial (67), Lakewood (70), Highlands Ranch (79), Boulder (140), Westminster (176), and Pueblo (184). Lastly, here are the growth rankings for the small cities of less than 100,000 people: Loveland (16) and Longmont (24).

Overall, Lehigh Acres in Florida was named the fastest growing city in the nation, with Colorado cities (regardless of size) ranked as follows: Greeley (23), Denver (37), Thorton (44,) Loveland (63), Fort Collins (70), Arvada (77), Longmont (89), Aurora (90), Centennial (122), Lakewood (127), Highlands Ranch (147), Colorado Springs (164), Boulder (276), Westminster (334), and Pueblo (351).

To determine the fastest-growing cities in America for 2019, WalletHub compared more than 500 cities based on two key dimensions including socio-demographics and jobs plus economy. These two key dimensions were then based on 17 different metrics, which were graded on a 100-point scale. See the full report here.