CO-03

Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District: Fact Sheet

Brad Jones

Brad Jones

— 6 min read
Notes: This map shows Colorado's third district. The inlaid map in the lower righthand corner shows the position of the district within the state. Sources: US Census Tiger/Line shapefiles.

Colorado’s third district makes up most of the western and southern parts of the state. A large share of the land area of the third district is composed of mountainous regions. The largest cities in the district are Grand Junction and Pueblo. The district has been represented by Jeff Hurd since 2025.

Demographics

Population growth, 1990-2022

Notes: Population growth in the third district (solid line) compared to statewide trends (dotted line). The graphic shows percentage growth in the area and the data labels show the population in the area in 10,000s. Source: U.S. Census data compiled by the National Neighborhood Data Archive.

Since 1990, Colorado's population has grown by over 75%. Population growth in the area covered by the third district has increased at a slower pace growing by about 50% over this period.

Share of the population that is White (non-Hispanic), 1990-2022

Notes: Share of the population that is non-Hispanic White. The solid line shows the trend in the district, the dotted line shows the statewide trend. Source: U.S. Census data compiled by the National Neighborhood Data Archive.

In 1990, the population in this area was somewhat more diverse than the state as a whole. Today, the share of the third district that is non-Hispanic White closely matches the statewide total.

Share of the population that is Hispanic (of any race), 1990-2022

Notes: Share of the population that is Hispanic of any race. The solid line shows the trend in the district, the dotted line shows the statewide trend. Source: U.S. Census data compiled by the National Neighborhood Data Archive.

During the past 35 years, the third district has been home to a greater share of Hispanic people than the rest of the state. While the Hispanic population in this area has grown over this period, it hasn't grown on pace with trends in the rest of the state.

Share of the adult population that is under 40, 1990-2022

Notes: Share of the adult population that is under 40. The solid line shows the trend in the district, the dotted line shows the statewide trend. Source: U.S. Census data compiled by the National Neighborhood Data Archive.

The population of the third district is somewhat older on average than the remainder of the state. The difference between the third district and other parts of the state has remained basically constant during the period between 1990 and today.

Development

Land cover, 1985-2024

Notes: This animation shows the change in land cover from 1985-2024. Development is shown in grey, farmland is shown in yellow, water is shown in blue, grass/scrubland is shown in brown. Source: National Land Cover Database derived from satellite imagery.

The third district is mostly composed of mountainous parts of the state. The populated regions in the district have substantially increased their development during this period mostly at the expense of farmland and other cultivated areas.

Politics

Notes: This plot shows the two-party vote in each precinct. Each point is drawn proportional to the number of votes cast in that precinct in 2024 and colored according to the margin. Sources: Precinct voting data compiled by the New York Times Upshot. Congressional district boundaries from Census Tiger/Line file.

The third district is substantially more Republican in its voting patterns than the rest of the state. In the 2024 election, substantially more than half of the district supported Trump compared to 43% support statewide. The most Democratic areas are in the larger cities with the rural areas providing Republicans with their biggest margins.

The relationship between educational attainment and 2024 Democratic vote

Notes: This graphic shows the relationship between the share of a Census tract that has a college degree or greater and two-party Democratic vote in 2024. The Pearson's correlation coefficient is shown in the bottom left-hand corner, and the line-of-best-fit is drawn through the data. Sources: Tract-level educational attainment, US Census compiled by NaNDA. Presidential vote share from the NYT Upshot projected to the tract-level by the author.

The areas within the third district with the highest rates of college graduates were most likely to support Harris in 2024.

The relationship between racial composition and 2024 Democratic vote

Notes: This graphic shows the relationship between the share of a Census tract that is White (non-Hispanic) and two-party Democratic vote in 2024. The Pearson's correlation coefficient is shown in the bottom left-hand corner, and the line-of-best-fit is drawn through the data. Sources: Tract-level racial and ethnic composition, US Census compiled by NaNDA. Presidential vote share from the NYT Upshot projected to the tract-level by the author.

Within the third district, racial and ethnic composition is only modestly related to vote outcomes. On average, the parts of the district with the greatest shares of non-Hispanic White people were more likely to support Trump compared to other parts of the district. However when we look at Census tracts that have 80% or more non-Hispanic White people, we see some that supported Harris by more than 50 percentage points and some that supported Trump by more than 50 percentage points.

Click here for a listing of fact sheets for the other districts in the state.

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