About one-third of Colorado residents are using artificial intelligence tools, placing the state slightly above the national average, according to a Microsoft report released in May.

The report, Measuring AI Diffusion Across U.S. Geographies, found Colorado ranked 15th nationally for AI adoption for working-age users in the first quarter of 2026. The state’s AI user share was 32.3%, compared with the national average of 31.3%.

The study used Microsoft’s data from working-age users who actively used major AI tools, including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude and Microsoft Copilot, during the first quarter of 2026 to estimate AI adoption rates across U.S. counties, states and metropolitan areas.

Microsoft researchers found AI adoption is uneven across the country and is strongest in metropolitan areas, college communities and regions with knowledge-based economies.

“At the county level, the urban-rural divide stands out most clearly,” the report said.

Colorado’s data reflects that pattern. Metropolitan counties in the state reported an average AI user share of 33.7%, while micropolitan counties averaged 22.6%. Rural counties lagged significantly behind at 17.1%.

Boulder County led Colorado counties with an AI user share of 43.7%, followed by Broomfield County at 38.8% and Larimer County at 35.9%.

Other top-performing counties included Douglas County at 34.6%, Denver County at 34.4%, Gunnison County at 34.3% and El Paso County at 34.2%.

At the other end of the spectrum, Custer County recorded the state’s lowest AI user share at 9.3%, followed by Jackson County at 9.7%, Kiowa County at 10.0% and Hinsdale County at 10.1%.

Researchers said the divide likely stems from several factors, including internet access, workforce composition and public attitudes toward AI.

“Several factors appear to be contributing, including differences in access and trust,” the report said. 

Microsoft also found that trust in AI differs sharply by geography. According to survey data cited in the report, 53% of respondents in urban areas said AI was likely to act in the public’s best interest, compared with 38% of respondents in rural areas.

The report found that local economic conditions are closely tied to AI adoption rates.

“The local job base adds another important layer,” researchers wrote. “Counties with larger shares of professional and technical services, information work, health care, and finance tend to have higher AI usage.”

Colorado’s workforce includes higher-than-average concentrations of several industries associated with AI adoption. The state has a larger share of jobs in professional, scientific and technical services, information, finance and corporate management than the national average, according to the report.

By contrast, counties with larger concentrations of manufacturing, agriculture, construction, mining, oil and gas jobs generally reported lower levels of AI use.

“These patterns do not prove that any single industry causes higher or lower adoption,” the report said. “But they do show that the structure of a local economy is closely associated with how quickly AI is being adopted.”

The report also found a strong connection between AI adoption and younger populations, particularly in college communities.

Nationally, counties where more than 10% of residents are ages 18 to 24 averaged an AI user share of 28.6%, compared with 20.3% in counties with smaller young-adult populations.

Microsoft said nearly all of the nation’s highest-ranking counties for AI adoption are home to colleges or universities, citing Williamsburg, Va., home to the College of William and Mary, as the nation’s leader at 73.2%.

The findings suggest AI adoption is spreading broadly across the country but remains concentrated in places with stronger digital infrastructure, younger populations and knowledge-intensive industries.

“Taken together, these findings show that AI diffusion in the United States is broad, but uneven,” the report said.

The report concluded that understanding those differences will become increasingly important as AI becomes more embedded across the country.