CO-08

Colorado’s 8th Congressional District: Fact Sheet

Brad Jones

Brad Jones

— 5 min read
Notes: This map shows Colorado's eighth 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 eighth district is located in the north central part of the state. It includes many front range communities and the northernmost part of the Denver metro area. The district was created newly as a result of reapportionment following the 2020 Census, and it is currently represented by Gabe Evans who has served since 2025.

Demographics

Population growth, 1990-2022

Notes: Population growth in the eighth 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 eighth district grew on pace with the rest of the state until the 2000s when it began growing faster than the statewide average. The population of the area now covered by the eighth district has more than doubled since 1990.

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 of the eighth district significantly more diverse than the rest of the state. Moreover, the population living in the area covered by the district has diversified faster than the rest of the state.

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.

For the past 35 years, the eighth district has been home to the greatest share of Hispanic Coloradoans compared to any other district in the state. Today, the district is nearly 40% Hispanic.

Share of the population with a college degree, 1990-2022

Notes: Share of the population that has a four-year college degree or more education. 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 eighth district has substantially fewer college grads compared to other places in the state. The gap between the eighth district and the rest of the state has remained about constant over the past 35 years.

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.

In 1985, more than 60 percent of the land area in the eighth district was cultivated in some way. Today that share has dropped nearly 20 percentage points. The developed area in this district has more than doubled since 1985.

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 eighth district the most evenly divided district in the state. In the 2024 election, Harris received just under 48% of the vote while Trump received just over 49% of the vote in the district. With the exception of parts of Greeley in the northern part of the district, the political division in the district is mostly north-south -- Democratic strength is primarily located in the south of the district, and Republicans are more concentrated in the northern parts.

The relationship between racial and ethnic composition 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.

Within the eighth district, there is a fairly strong relationship between the racial and ethnic composition of places within it and the politics of those places. In general, the most Republican areas of the district have the highest shares of White residents.

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

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