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Colorado Business Rankings Highlight Need for Regulatory Reform

For media inquiries, please contact Cynthia Eveleth-Havens at [email protected].

DENVER – The Colorado Chamber of Commerce today released its updated Colorado Scorecard for 2024, which annually tracks competitiveness metrics to inform the public on the status of Colorado’s economy. The state dropped in several key rankings related to the business climate and cost of living, highlighting major pressure points for both employers and the workforce. Colorado did, however, see improvements related to quality of life, tax burden and salaries.  

“While we’re disappointed to see Colorado continue to drop in business rankings, the data is consistent with what we’re hearing from employers,” said Colorado Chamber President and CEO Loren Furman. “We know from our statewide business surveys that our regulatory climate is primarily to blame, and the Colorado Chamber has spent the past year working closely with economists and experts to develop solutions that ensure sustained growth and resilience for our state. As we approach the 2025 legislative session, the Chamber will be unveiling ambitious but practical proposals to address these issues head on.” 

There are still bright spots that are driving the state’s appeal on the national scale. Rankings related to quality of life, poverty levels, and small and emerging business startups continue to boost Colorado’s overall competitiveness. Certain sectors also saw positive indications, including energy, tech, manufacturing and tourism. 

Launched in October 2023 as a key component of the Colorado Chamber’s Vision 2033 strategic action plan, the Colorado Scorecard serves as a dashboard to track more than 60 data points related to Colorado’s competitiveness, economy and key industries. It compiles annual rankings, statistics and surveys to assess where Colorado stands and monitor progress over time. The Scorecard has been updated for 2024 with the latest available data for each metric.

Key findings of the 2024 Colorado Scorecard data:  

Where Colorado is dropping:

  • Colorado’s best state for business ranking dropped from 11th to 16th.
  • The state’s cost of doing business ranking dropped slightly from 38th to 39th.
  • The business tax ranking declined from 21st to 27th
  • Colorado’s cost of living ranking fell from 35th to 46th, highlighting affordability challenges. Every metric on cost-of-living tracked by the Scorecard saw declines in 2024.
  • The annual cost of childcare has increased to $16,333, making Colorado the 5th highest state in childcare costs.
  • The percentage of Coloradans burdened by rent or mortgage payments increased by 9.57%.
  • Colorado’s housing affordability ranking dropped 47th to 47th.
  • Both the homeownership rate and the number of houses sold in Colorado are declining.
  • The number of homeless individuals in the state is rising.
  • Both two- and four- year college affordability rankings declined, impacting access to higher education.
  • The state’s infrastructure ranking declined from 10th to 12th.

 

 

Where Colorado is improving:

  • The individual income tax burden on Coloradans is improving, with Colorado moving up to 13th in the nation. The state’s corporate income tax ranking held steady in 2024 at 7th.
  • The number of new business startups, including minority-owned businesses, is increasing.
  • Colorado’s business confidence index rose from 44.1 to 46.7, reflecting optimism among business leaders.
  • Colorado’s GDP has increased to $529 billion.
  • The most recent available data from the state indicates that both property and violent crime have improved significantly year-over-year, suggesting trends in an overall positive direction.
  • The ranking for state and local funding for higher education improved from 45th to 35th.
  • The high school graduation rate is on the rise.
  • The number of technology jobs in Colorado is growing, boosting the state’s innovation sector.
  • Colorado’s energy ranking improved significantly, jumping from 28th to 16th.
  • Poverty rates are declining.
  • Colorado’s healthiest state ranking improved, moving up from 5th to 2nd, and the state’s obesity rate is decreasing.

View the full scorecard here: https://cochamber.com/scorecard/

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The Colorado Chamber of Commerce champions free enterprise, a healthy business environment and economic prosperity for all Coloradans. It is the only business association that works to improve the business climate for all sizes of business from a statewide, multi-industry perspective. What the Colorado Chamber accomplishes is good for all businesses, and that’s good for the state’s economy. It was created in 1965 based on the merger with the Colorado Manufacturers’ Association.