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DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado’s largest city is one of the nation’s youngest – and not because Denverites have lots of kids.

Analyses of U.S. Census and home purchasing data reveal Denver is not only shedding retirees but failing to lure any new ones. ConstructionCoverage.com lists the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area among the areas with the youngest home purchasers in the country.

Among the people who purchased Denver area homes in 2021, about 13.9% were 55 years old or older, the sixth-lowest share of home purchasers among the nation’s large metros.

The low share of 55-year-old and older homebuyers is similar in other areas that share many of Denver’s characteristics – affluent, highly educated and near the top of the nation for housing expense. The Austin, Seattle, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and San Jose metro areas are the only ones with a smaller share of 55-year-old and older homebuyers.

In retiree hotspots in Arizona, Florida and Nevada, as much as 35% of the housing market was purchased by 55-year-old and older buyers.

These findings broadly track with retirement movement. Colorado is among the 10 states that lost the most retirees in 2021.

The Denver metro area now has one of the smallest shares of population over 60.

About one in five people in the Denver metro are 60 or older, or 19.75%, according to American Community Survey data – the 20th smallest share among U.S. metros.

This is not a feature of Denver having lots of children, as it would be in metros in states with high birth rates such as Salt Lake City or Provo. Colorado’s birth rate is among the nation’s lowest.

Denver-area families have some of the lowest shares of households with children up to 17 years of age.