Happy Birthday Colorado

On this date in 1876, 143 years ago, Colorado became the 38th state admitted to the union. To celebrate, we used State Data Lab to find fun facts about Colorado and to learn more about The Centennial State.

In 2012 and 2014, Colorado was ranked the 9th friendliest state for small businesses by the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council. The interesting correlation here is that recreational marijuana was legalized in 2012 and allowed for sale and consumption in 2014, both years that Colorado earned their best small business ranking.

This year, the minimum wage for Colorado is $11.10 per hour, which is an increase of $3.10 since 2014. By 2021, the minimum wage for employees in Denver will be $15 an hour.

In 2018, Colorado enjoyed the highest percentage (46.8 percent) of people 25 years or older with a Bachelor’s degree or higher. Individuals within the same age range with an advanced degree was also at the highest percentage (16.7 percentage) for the state.

For this year, the average winter temperature in Colorado was 25.7 degrees. The coldest temperature experienced in Colorado was -61 degrees on February 1, 1985.

This year, Colorado was ranked by WalletHub as the 3rd best state for retirement. They were also ranked by Haven Life as the 10th best state for early retirement mainly due to access to arts and entertainment.

In 2017, the United Health Organization gave Colorado an overall health ranking as the 7th most healthy state. This is an interesting statistic because it is also the year the most percentage of people (92.5%) were covered by health insurance in Colorado.

You can learn more about Colorado and make your own charts using State Data Lab. And we at Truth in Accounting wish Colorado a very happy 143rd birthday!

Patrick Wool is a Communications Intern at Truth in Accounting, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Chicago that researches government financial data and promotes transparency for a better-informed citizenry.