Sterling, Colorado demographics

Sterling, CO demographics: median age 37.7; 15.7% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Sterling city, Colorado · Incorporated city · GEOID 0873935. The survey estimates a population of 13,172 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Sterling is 37.7 years, with a 90% margin of error of 1.2 years. There are 5,022 households (±209). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	37.7 ±1.2	37.7 ±0.1	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 13,172
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Colorado	U.S.
Under 18	2,129 ±295	16.2% ±2.2 pp	21.0%	22.0%
18–34	3,768 ±352	28.6% ±2.7 pp	24.8%	22.8%
35–64	4,755 ±452	36.1% ±3.4 pp	38.6%	38.0%
65 and older	2,520 ±275	19.1% ±2.1 pp	15.6%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 13,172
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Colorado	U.S.
Male	7,544 ±215	57.3% ±1.6 pp	50.7%	49.5%
Female	5,628 ±216	42.7% ±1.6 pp	49.3%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 13,172
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Colorado	U.S.
White alone	10,333 ±372	78.4% ±2.8 pp	70.5%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	560 ±156	4.3% ±1.2 pp	4.0%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	130 ±53	1.0% ±0.4 pp	1.1%	0.9%
Asian alone	105 ±79 · low precision	0.8% ±0.6 pp · low precision	3.3%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	0 ±21 · low precision	0.0% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.2%
Some other race alone	538 ±323 · low precision	4.1% ±2.5 pp · low precision	6.0%	7.1%
Two or more races	1,506 ±317	11.4% ±2.4 pp	14.9%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 13,172
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Colorado	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	10,379 ±250	78.8% ±1.9 pp	77.5%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	2,793 ±247	21.2% ±1.9 pp	22.5%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 5,022
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Colorado	U.S.
Married-couple family	1,520 ±222	30.3% ±4.2 pp	48.3%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	90 ±72 · low precision	1.8% ±1.4 pp · low precision	4.5%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	758 ±164	15.1% ±3.2 pp	8.9%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	2,211 ±265	44.0% ±4.9 pp	28.6%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	443 ±161	8.8% ±3.2 pp	9.7%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 5,022
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Colorado	U.S.
Households with people under 18	1,213 ±153	24.2% ±2.9 pp	28.4%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	3,809 ±266	75.8% ±4.3 pp	71.6%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 5,022
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Colorado	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	2,211 ±265	44.0% ±4.9 pp	28.6%	28.7%
Two-person households	1,413 ±247	28.1% ±4.8 pp	36.0%	33.8%
Three-person households	630 ±144	12.5% ±2.8 pp	14.8%	15.3%
Four-person households	266 ±105	5.3% ±2.1 pp	12.3%	12.6%
Five-person households	312 ±153	6.2% ±3.0 pp	5.1%	5.9%
Six-person households	82 ±74 · low precision	1.6% ±1.5 pp · low precision	2.0%	2.2%
Seven or more people	108 ±89 · low precision	2.2% ±1.8 pp · low precision	1.1%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 13,172
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Colorado	U.S.
Native	12,306 ±238	93.4% ±1.8 pp	90.2%	85.9%
Foreign born	866 ±234	6.6% ±1.8 pp	9.8%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 12,589
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Colorado	U.S.
English only	11,104 ±370	88.2% ±2.8 pp	83.8%	77.7%
Spanish	1,077 ±218	8.6% ±1.7 pp	11.1%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	61 ±82 · low precision	0.5% ±0.7 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	60 ±59 · low precision	0.5% ±0.5 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	0 ±21 · low precision	0.0% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	32 ±47 · low precision	0.3% ±0.4 pp · low precision	1.0%	2.0%
Korean	0 ±21 · low precision	0.0% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	0 ±21 · low precision	0.0% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.5%	1.1%
Vietnamese	0 ±21 · low precision	0.0% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	77 ±81 · low precision	0.6% ±0.6 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	56 ±60 · low precision	0.4% ±0.5 pp · low precision	0.6%	1.1%
Arabic	112 ±85 · low precision	0.9% ±0.7 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	10 ±15 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.7%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 9,688
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Colorado	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	1,246 ±257	12.9% ±2.6 pp	7.1%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	4,238 ±444	43.7% ±4.4 pp	19.7%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	1,855 ±313	19.1% ±3.2 pp	19.2%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	825 ±148	8.5% ±1.5 pp	8.3%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	930 ±242	9.6% ±2.5 pp	28.1%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	594 ±194	6.1% ±2.0 pp	17.6%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 13,085
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Colorado	U.S.
Same house	10,760 ±570	82.2% ±4.3 pp	84.1%	87.7%
Moved within same county	1,135 ±469	8.7% ±3.6 pp	6.7%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	873 ±489 · low precision	6.7% ±3.7 pp · low precision	4.8%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	314 ±196 · low precision	2.4% ±1.5 pp · low precision	3.8%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	3 ±6 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

6.8% of Sterling residents (±2.1 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 7.7% in Colorado and 8.4% nationally. 83.0% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Sterling	Colorado	U.S.	Compared with Colorado
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	6.8% ±2.1 pp	7.7%	8.4%	Not statistically different
Households with a broadband subscription Households	83.0% ±4.0 pp	93.5%	91.0%	Lower
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	6.9% ±2.0 pp	7.5%	6.2%	Not statistically different

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Sterling . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Sterling housing and cost context or return to the city profile.