Colorado Still Ranks Among the Worst States for Mental Health in 2025

Colorado continues to face one of the most serious mental-health challenges in the country. New data from Mental Health America shows the state ranks 41st out of 51 (50 states plus Washington, D.C.) for overall mental-health outcomes.

Youth Improve, Adults Decline

There is some good news for younger residents. Colorado’s youth mental-health ranking jumped from 47th to 31st, showing progress in early intervention and school-based support.

For adults, however, the situation has gotten worse. Colorado dropped from 40th to 48th in adult mental-health outcomes, placing it near the bottom of the nation.

What’s Behind the Low Ranking?

Several major issues are contributing to Colorado’s struggles:

• Colorado now has the second-highest rate of mental illness in the United States.
• For adults, the state ranks 47th for serious thoughts of suicide. More than 280,000 Coloradans face this each year.
• Nearly half of insured residents who needed care said they worried their insurance wouldn’t cover it.

Colorado technically has strong “access to care” rankings on paper, including high scores for mental-health workforce and insurance coverage. The problem is that many people still struggle to actually get help due to waitlists, insurance challenges, stigma, or lack of local services.

How Colorado Has Ranked Over Time

• 2021: 47th
• 2022: 37th
• 2024: 46th
• 2025: 41st

While the state has climbed from last place, the current numbers show there is still a long way to go.

How We’re Trying to Change the Story

Even with these tough statistics, we’re working every day to make a real difference. At Axis Integrated Mental Health, we built our clinics to solve one of Colorado’s biggest problems: people shouldn’t have to visit five different places just to get help. That’s why we offer psychiatry, therapy, and advanced depression treatments all in the same location and why we won the Best of Mile High Awards for the last 2 years in a row.

We focus especially on people who haven’t gotten better with traditional care alone. Treatments like Deep TMS (82% efficacy and 65% remission rate) and Spravato (nasal esketamine) are covered by insurance, so patients don’t have to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket to get help that works.

We also believe care should reach everyone, not just those who can afford it. That’s why we created pro-bono programs and extra support for patients who otherwise wouldn’t be able to receive treatment. Our goal is simple: no one gets left behind.

Colorado’s mental-health crisis won’t be fixed overnight. But we show up every day because every person who gets the right care brings our state one step closer to healing. For many Coloradans, hope matters. And for some, it’s saving lives.