Workforce Profile
Brighton attracts a young, diverse and highly educated workforce, more than 22% of them with associate, bachelor or graduate degrees. The city benefits from its proximity to metro Denver, which has the nation’s sixth highest migration rate among unmarried college graduates, as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau. Unusually large numbers of science and technology majors gravitate here, lured by the region’s high concentration of technology occupations.
Adams County accounts for 15% of Metro Denver's total labor force, with employment of more than 225,000.
Labor Force
| 2009 Annual Average |
Adams County |
Denver Metro |
| Total Labor Force |
227,649 |
|
| Total Employed |
211,410 |
|
| Total Unemployed |
16,239 |
|
| Unemployment Rate* |
7.1% |
|
*Unemployment Rate January 2009
Unemployment Rate
The unemployment rate in Adams County declined steadily during the 1990s. It increased slightly during 2002 and 2003, in line with regional and national economic conditions.
| Year |
Unemployment Rate |
| 1991 |
5.3% |
| 1992 |
6.1% |
| 1993 |
5.9% |
| 1994 |
3.4% |
| 1995 |
3.2% |
| 1996 |
3.4% |
| 1997 |
2.6% |
| 1998 |
2.9% |
| 1999 |
2.7% |
| 2000 |
2.6% |
| 2001 |
3.8% |
| 2002 |
6.2% |
| 2003 |
7.1% |
| 2004 |
6.2% |
| 2005 |
5.8% |
| 2006 |
5.0% |
| 2007 |
4.3% |
| 2008 |
5.0% |
| 2009 |
7.1% |
Employment Distribution by Industry
Adams County has higher levels of construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade and transportation/communications/ utilities jobs than the Denver metropolitan region as a whole. It has fewer finance/insurance/real estate and service sector jobs.
| Industry |
Adams County |
Denver Metro |
| Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing |
1.7% |
1.0% |
| Mining |
0.2% |
0.4% |
| Construction |
12.6% |
7.5% |
| Manufacturing |
11.7% |
7.7% |
| Transportation, Communications, Utilities |
11.4% |
8.5% |
| Wholesale Trade |
10.1% |
6.3% |
| Retail Trade |
18.9% |
17.5% |
| Finance, Insurance, Real Estate |
2.7% |
7.6% |
| Services |
18.2% |
30.1% |
| Government |
12.1% |
12.8% |
Employers
Employment growth has mirrored population growth in Brighton. Over the past six years, annual job growth has been more than double than that experienced during the 1990s.
| Year |
Employment |
Absolute Change |
Average Annual Change |
| 1980 |
4,351 |
-- |
-- |
| 1990 |
5,579 |
1,074 |
107 |
| 2000 |
8,918 |
3,339 |
334 |
| 2006 |
13,105 |
4,187 |
698 |
Metro Denver Workforce
- For the seventh straight year, Colorado ranked first in concentration of tech workers. (AeA . formerly the American Electronics Association, 2006)
- Colorado ranked third of the 50 states for the percentage of scientists and engineers in its labor force. (Beacon Hill, 2006 )
- Colorado has the nation's second most highly educated workforce. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005)
- Colorado has the nation's fourth highest concentration of scientists and engineers. (National Science Board, 2006)
- The University of Denver's Daniels College of Business was ranked eighth on the Wall Street Journal's 2005 index of regional business schools.
- The University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business was among the top 10 "hot spots" for entrepreneurial education listed in Fortune Small Business, 2006.
- Boulder was ranked the nation's number one spot for brainpower. (American City Business Journals, 2005)
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