CO-07

Colorado’s 7th Congressional District: Fact Sheet

Brad Jones

Brad Jones

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

Most of the population of the seventh district lives in the western parts of the Denver metro area. The district also includes many smaller central mountain towns. The district has been represented by Brittany Pettersen since 2023.

Demographics

Population growth, 1990-2022

Notes: Population growth in the seventh 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.

The population of the seventh district has grown at a somewhat slower pace compared with the rest of the state. Overall, the state's population has grown by 75% over the past 35 years. The population in the current seventh district boundaries has increased by just under 50 percent.

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.

The population living in the area covered by the seventh district is substantially Whiter than the statewide trend. This gap has remained relatively constant over the past 35 years.

Share of the adult population ages 18-39, 1990-2022

Notes: Share of the adult population that is between the ages of 18 and 39. 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 seventh district, at least for the period under consideration here, has a somewhat older population compared with the rest of the state.

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.

Most of the development in the area now covered by the seventh district has occurred in the Denver metro area as the cities that make up this area have pushed toward the mountains. There has also been significant development in the mountainous areas – specifically Cañon City.

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 most Democratic leaning parts of the district are in the heavily populated Denver metro area portions. Republicans do better in most of the more rural, mountainous areas of the district.

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 grey dots show the pattern in the Denver metro area and the red dots show the pattern in the remainder of the district. The Pearson's correlation coefficient is shown in the bottom left-hand corner for the Denver metro area and in the bottom right-hand corner in red for the remainder of the district, and the lines-of-best-fit are drawn through the two segments of 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.

In the seventh district, more than any other in Colorado we see a clear bifurcation in the relationship between education and the share of a local neighborhood that voted Democratic in 2024. The plot shows two very different relationships depending on the part of the district. In the highly urbanized Denver metro portion (shown in grey in the plot), there is a very modest negative relationship between the share of a place with a college degree and Democratic vote. In the rest of the district, there is a much stronger relationship between the share of a place that has a college degree and Democratic vote (shown in red in the plot).

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

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