Once dependent on agriculture and mining, Colorado entered the new millennium with a diversified economy not matched in its history. Tourism, long important to the state, now ranks second to a broad-based and multi-faceted service industry. Manufacturing, thanks to the state’s popularity as a high-technology corridor, has gained importance.

The state’s service economy is dominated by business services such as software development, temporary employment agencies and advertising. Professional services such as health services, legal services and engineering remain important components of the state’s economy.

Farm market receipts hover near $5 billion a year. The U.S. Department of Defense spends more than $5 billion annually in the state. Extractive industries – mining and oil and gas production – add roughly $3 billion to the economy. Employment in these sectors continues to decline, but technological improvements have kept production high.

Tourism’s impact on the economy is more difficult to quantify. No economic subgroup specific to tourism exists (hotels and lodging, for instance, are reported as part of the service industry). Still, the governor’s office for economic development estimates roughly $7 billion is generated from domestic travelers, another $900 million from international tourists. Many of the jobs generated by the tourism industry, however, are among the lowest-paying jobs in the state.

Thanks to the state’s status as a high-technology manufacturing center, international exports hover near $6 billion a year.

Continued strong population growth points to continued expansion of the state’s economy.