Young workers heading to Colorado part of major population shift

Colorado Public Radio ⸱ May 13, 2015

In 1790, the population center of the U.S. was near Baltimore, Md. Since, it has slowly moved west, and currently falls in Texas County, Mo. As the center point moves closer to Colorado, it brings challenges and opportunities.

The population center is the geographical point in the United States that is the middlepoint of the nation's population. The westward trend, measured by the Census Bureau, has been particularly pronounced in the last decade. It raises questions about the economy, Jennifer Oldham, Colorado correspondent for Bloomberg News, wrote in a recent article.

Access to such workers prompted Layer3 TV Inc., a two-year-old cable company, to choose Denver over Boston in 2014 for its headquarters. The company is working on a product that combines television, social and digital media and plans to fill 312 jobs paying an average salary of $92,083.

“The driving decision to move to any location is the people,” said Eric Kuhn, the firm’s marketing director.

Jennifer Oldham spoke with Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner.