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DENVER (KDVR) — Earth has had a lot of people on it. The current population, which is estimated to be around 8.2 billion, only accounts for about 7% of the entire population of humans Earth has ever had living on it. According to PRB, a data center that tracks global population data, in 2022, the last recorded year for data, 117,020,448,575 people have roamed Earth at some point in history. That number is expected to increase to 120,847,437,072 by 2050. Out of the vastness of this planet and the billion upon billions of lives that have lived here, there is one small area that has been responsible for its own tiny population. The area has existed for eons, with its oldest rocks dating back 2.7 billion years ago, but is now formally known as Colorado. It would be nearly impossible to track every single life that has ever lived in Colorado, but recorded data can depict a decent picture of the population in recent history. How many people have lived in Colorado, or what would become Colorado? FOX31 tried to put a number on it. The most recent Census estimate was counted on July 1, 2024, and determined that about 5.96 million people live in Colorado. Census data from 1860, 18 years before Colorado became a state, recorded 34,277 people living in the Colorado territory. The year 1860 was the first time that accurate, but not precise, numbers would be documented. Figures might miss out on the odd person, but for the most part, they are fair estimates. Since 1860, historical crude birth-rate data gathered from the Centers for Disease Control and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, determined that approximately 6,033,839 people have been born in Colorado between 1860 and 2024. Unfortunately, on the other side of life comes death. In the same period, the data shows that about 5.07 million people have died, leaving a natural increase of about 0.96 million people. The next number that must be looked into is the total migrations into the state. Net migration, people who have moved into Colorado minus those who have moved out, sits at about five million people — that gives Colorado its current population of around 5.96 million after adding the natural increase of 0.96 million to the five million. However, to achieve a total number of people who have ever lived here, only the migrations into the state matter. A conservative estimate from the State Demography Office suggests that 10,423,422 people have moved into Colorado, although that number could be closer to about 20 million, if data recorded before 1860 is taken into consideration. The only way that 10.4 million was able to be determined was to track the number of people who have left from 1860 to 2024, and add the state's current population to that number. This is where the statisticians leave the conversation, historians enter and numbers become much more vague. Historians believe that indigenous people have lived in Colorado for about 18,000 years, according to research from the Colorado Encyclopedia. The Colorado Encyclopedia said the total years are split into four eras, including: The numbers are hard to pin down exactly, but archaeological findings have been able to determine rough estimates of the populations per era. The Colorado Encyclopedia suggests populations had estimates, including: The National Library of Medicine said the average life span from the Paleo-Indian era to 1850 was about 30 years. To get an estimate of the population across the eras, you would multiply the average population by the number of years and divide by the average lifespan for totals, including: Humanity has not always had the ability to use AI to keep precise tallies of every person on Earth or in Colorado, but historians and statisticians can offer a valuable look into humanity's past. Using only archaeology to understand population density means that breathing room is needed on either side of the total average. So, using data collected by the Census from 1860 to 2024, combined with the historic findings of archaeologists, a very conservative total of people who have ever lived in Colorado is ... Drum roll, please — 14,700,000 people — and that's more than likely on the lighter side. Before those 18,000 years — your guess is as good as mine.
