Denver is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United States and the fifth most populous state capital. It is the principal city of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the first city of the Front Range Urban Corridor.
Denver is ranked as a Beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. The 10-county Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 2,963,821 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 19th most populous U.S. metropolitan statistical area. The 12-county Denver-Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area had a population of 3,623,560 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 17th most populous U.S. primary statistical area. Denver is the most populous city of the 18-county Front Range Urban Corridor, an oblong urban region stretching across two states with a population of 5,055,344 at the 2020 United States Census. Its metropolitan area is the most populous metropolitan area within a 560-mile (900 km) radius and the second most populous city in the Mountain West after Phoenix, Arizona. In 2016, it was named the best place to live in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.
