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Demographics of Firestone, CO
Affluence Level in Firestone, CO
An upper-middle-class area. Household wealth, education levels, and homeownership run ahead of national benchmarks.
People of Firestone, CO
Firestone, Colorado, is a rapidly growing exurban community of 17,353 residents that blends a historic agricultural core with modern suburban development. The city's population is predominantly White (65.9%) with a substantial Hispanic minority (24.9%), a small but notable East/Southeast Asian community (4.1%), and a very low foreign-born share (3.2%). Its character is defined by young families seeking affordable housing near the Denver-Boulder job corridor, producing a dense, family-oriented atmosphere with a distinctly conservative political tilt.
How the city was settled and grew
Firestone was founded in 1908 as a planned company town for the Great Western Sugar Company, which drew the first major wave of settlers: German-Russian and Mexican laborers who worked the sugar beet fields. The original town site, now known as Old Town Firestone (centered on Grant Avenue and Firestone Boulevard), housed these workers in modest company-built cottages. The Mexican laborers, many of whom arrived from southern Colorado and New Mexico, established a small enclave along Front Street near the sugar factory, where their descendants still own property today. The sugar mill operated until the 1970s, anchoring a stable, working-class community of roughly 500 people through the mid-20th century. No significant population growth occurred until the 1990s, as Firestone remained a sleepy agricultural hamlet.
Modern era (post-1965)
The post-1965 era brought little immediate change to Firestone, as the town remained isolated from Denver's suburban boom until the 1990s. The real transformation began after 2000, when the Coal Ridge subdivision (south of Colorado Highway 66) opened as the first large-scale master-planned community, attracting White middle-class families from Boulder and Long Beach who sought cheaper land. This wave accelerated after the 2008 recession, with developments like St. Vrain Ranch (north of I-25) and Barefoot Lakes (east of County Road 13) adding thousands of single-family homes. The Hispanic population, which had been concentrated in Old Town and along Grant Avenue, began dispersing into these new subdivisions as second- and third-generation families moved up economically. The East/Southeast Asian community (4.1%) arrived primarily after 2015, settling in Barefoot Lakes and Prairie Center neighborhoods, drawn by the area's highly rated St. Vrain Valley School District and proximity to tech jobs in Longmont and Broomfield. The Black population remains negligible (0.4%), with no distinct neighborhood concentration.
The future
Firestone's population is projected to approach 25,000 by 2035, driven by continued annexation of farmland into subdivisions like Barefoot Lakes Phase II and Firestone East. The city is homogenizing in income and lifestyle but tribalizing by ethnicity into distinct enclaves: Old Town remains predominantly Hispanic and working-class, while the newer subdivisions are overwhelmingly White and upper-middle-class. The East/Southeast Asian community is growing slowly but steadily, concentrated in the higher-end Barefoot Lakes area, while the Indian-subcontinent population remains zero. The Hispanic share is likely to plateau near 25-28% as new arrivals assimilate into the broader suburban culture and intermarry. The foreign-born share (3.2%) is unlikely to rise significantly, as Firestone lacks the rental housing stock and transit access that attract new immigrants. The city is becoming a solidly conservative, family-oriented bedroom community with a clear socioeconomic split between its historic core and its newer subdivisions.
For a conservative-leaning family or single individual moving to Firestone today, the bottom line is this: you are joining a young, growing community where the dominant culture is White, suburban, and politically conservative, with a significant Hispanic minority that is largely assimilated into that culture. The city offers affordable housing and good schools, but lacks ethnic diversity beyond its White and Hispanic populations. The next decade will see continued growth of the same demographic pattern, with no major shifts in the city's character.
* Values derived from national, state, county, city and local statistics and may differ in a specific area. Last updated: 2026-05-01T08:22:19.000Z
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