Demographic Voter Makeup: Colorado

*Editor’s note: This is part nine in a series that will break down the demographic statistics of voters in all six of FPP’S designated swing states plus the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. Later Today Nevada

Colorado has only voted Democratic in two of the last ten presidential elections and only three times since WWII. In 2008 and in the 2010 midterms Independents and women voted overwhelmingly in favor of Democrats, which lead to surprise Democratic wins in the governor’s and senate races. With a growing Hispanic population, Colorado is now considered in play for Democrats when it never would have been in the past. The state’s population has been growing, and now has nine electoral votes up from six in the 1960s. The Centennial State voted for Barack Obama by 54%-45% margin over John McCain

Population

Population: 5,029,196 (2010)
State rank: 22^nd
Change since 2000 census: up 16.9%
Most populated cities
Denver 600,158
Colorado Springs 416,427
Aurora 325,078
Fort Collins 143,986
Household Income
Under $15K: 11.2%
$15K-$50K: 33.3%
$50K-$100K: 32.3%
$100K-$200K: 18.8%
Over $200K: 4.4%
Median Income: $56,334

Read more after the jump

Home Value

Under $100K: 9.4%
$100K-$300K: 56.1%
Over $300K: 34.4%
Median Value: $237,800
Education
H.S. grad: 89.1%
College grad: 35.7%
Grad degree: 12.7%
Military Veterans
% of Pop: 11.0%
Ethnicity
White: 70.0%
Black: 3.8%
Hispanic: 20.7%
Asian: 2.7%
Native Am.: 0.6%
Hawaiian: 0.1%
Age
Median age: 35.6 years
Over 65: 10.4%
Under 18: 24.6%
State Legislature
Senate: 20D 15R
House: 32D 33R
Work
Private: 78.1%
Government: 14.7%
Self-employed: 7.0%
Unemployment (Sept 2012): 8.0%
Registered Voters in 2010
Democrats: 812,389
Republicans: 874,962
Independents/Other: 789,851
Voter Turnout in 2010: 1,787,730
Turnout as % of voting age in 2010: 47.0%