Commerce City, Colorado
28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Commerce City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 80022. It stands on Sand Creek. The Survey maps it on the Commerce City quadrangle. 62,418 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,164 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresCommerce City grew from 45,913 to 62,418 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 45,913 | |
| 2020 | 62,418 | +16,505 (+36%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 28 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1890 USGS East Denver quadrangle1:125000
- 1938 USGS Derby quadrangle1:24000
- 1940 USGS Derby quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1947 USGS Derby quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Derby quadrangle1:24000
- 1953 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1957 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Derby quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Commerce City quadrangle1:24000, 7 printings
- 1981 USGS Denver East quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
1,009 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1,009 fires within 5 miles of Commerce City between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,323 acres in total. 12 started naturally. 24 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 869 |
| Smoking | 27 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 24 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 21 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 18 |
| Fireworks | 18 |
| Natural | 12 |
| Debris and open burning | 10 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | WESTMINSTER |
| 6 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | DENVER |
| 6 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | DENVER |
| 6 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | WESTMINSTER |
| 6 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 6 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 5 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | N/A |
| 5 September 2019 | Smoking | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | N/A |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 79 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 79 workings within 5 miles of Commerce City: 43 past producers, 19 unknowns, 9 occurrences, 8 producers. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Clay, Gold, Silver. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams North Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Silver | Past Producer | 1956 | |
| Denver Brick & Pipe Co. | Clay | Producer | ||
| Unknown | Gold, Silver, Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | Placer | |
| Unknown | Gold, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silver | Occurrence | ||
| Gordon Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold | Past Producer | Gold, Sand and Gravel | |
| Thornton Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold | Producer | 1980 | |
| Adams County Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Adams County Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Albert Frei & Sons Sand and Gr Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Brannan Sand and Gravel Co Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
22 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Commerce City in 22 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 11 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 lightning, 2 flash flood. The reports record 7 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Commerce City | 6 hurt | no account filed |
| May 2010 | Lightning | Commerce City | 1 hurt | A child was struck in the leg by lightning while watching television. |
| May 2010 | Lightning | Commerce City | $5,000 | A lightning strike killed a buffalo at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Refuge. |
| July 2022 | Tornado (EFU) | Commerce City | - | A brief landspout developed in an open field. No damage was observed. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Commerce City | - | Intense thunderstorm winds snapped tree limbs up to 2 inches in diameter. |
| September 2013 | Flash Flood | Commerce City | - | Continuous heavy rainfall produced flash flooding. Evacuations were ordered for the Fairfax Park neighborhood in Commerce City, with numerous road closures throughout the city. |
| September 2013 | Flash Flood | Commerce City | - | The combination of heavy rain, coupled with extremely saturated ground conditions, produced additional flash flooding. A section of 60th Ave. in Commerce City had to be closed where Sand Creek crossed the road. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Commerce City | - | Intense thunderstorm winds toppled a large tree. |
| August 2002 | Lightning | Commerce City | - | Lightning struck a residence in Commerce City. The fire destroyed the roof of a detached garage and damaged much of its contents. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Hail | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
| May 2010 | Hail | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
| May 2010 | Hail | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Hail | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
| May 2001 | Hail | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Commerce City | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams City | 1.3 miles | 28 | |
| Derby | 2.3 miles | 28 | |
| Dupont | 2.4 miles | 28 | |
| Welby | 2.4 miles | 28 | |
| North Washington | 2.4 miles | 28 | |
| Irondale | 3.4 miles | 28 | |
| Utah Junction | 3.4 miles | 28 | |
| Western Hills | 3.7 miles | 28 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Commerce City | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q994452 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 184666. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.











