Used plastic pallets in Colorado

What the jobs data shows for Colorado

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts private employers in Colorado at 24,541 warehousing and storage jobs across 304 establishments in 2025, about 80.7 jobs per establishment.

• Adams County: 12,162 warehousing jobs, 50% of Colorado and 0.64% of the country, 5.0 times Denver County.
• Denver County: 2,456 warehousing jobs, 10% of Colorado and 0.13% of the country, 20% of the size of Adams County.
• Arapahoe County: 944 warehousing jobs, 3.8% of Colorado and 0.05% of the country, 8% of the size of Adams County.

Colorado against the country

Colorado's figures sit on the left and the national totals beside them, so each share and rank shows how much of the country's pallet work lands here.

What the ratios say

Disclosure rules in the BLS data hide small counties, so the county totals for Colorado are a floor and not the whole of its 24,541 jobs.

• The three largest warehousing counties hold 63% of Colorado's jobs in the line, and Adams County alone holds 50%.
• The average warehouse in Colorado employs 80.7 people where the national average is 81.5, a gap of 1 percent below it.
• Food manufacturing employs 1.08 people for every warehousing job in Colorado; across the US the ratio is 0.93.
• Colorado holds 1.5% of the nation's food manufacturing jobs and 1.3% of its warehousing jobs, so food is the heavier of the two lines here.
• Pharmaceutical manufacturing adds 4,960 jobs, 1.4% of the US total.
• The metro below accounts for 65% of the state's warehousing jobs, counting disclosed counties only.
• Adams County's 12,162 warehousing jobs are more than the whole state total of 14 other states, the largest being Nebraska at 8,246.
• Texas runs warehouses of nearly the same size, at 80.8 jobs per establishment against 80.7 here.
• For food manufacturing, Oregon is the closest match at 28,203 jobs, 1,634 above Colorado's 26,569.
• The smallest county the BLS shows for Colorado is Arapahoe County with 944 jobs; the largest has 12.9 times as many.
• If warehousing jobs were split evenly across 50 states, each would hold 2.0% of the total; Colorado holds 1.29%, which is 0.65 times an even share.
• Connecticut sits above Colorado with 586 more warehousing jobs, and Alabama sits below with 2,661 fewer.

Where Colorado ranks

Colorado and the 24 states above it hold 88% of the country's 1,901,976 warehousing jobs between them. The median state has 23,211, so Colorado is 1,331 jobs above it; California, the largest, has 236,923, or 10 times as many.

The pallet-using lines in Colorado

By location quotient Colorado leans hardest on food manufacturing (0.8x the national share). Food plants ask for clean, odour-free, washable decks. Food-contact papers come from the maker, not from the grade.

• Food manufacturing: 26,569 jobs in Colorado, 1.5% of the 1,775,008 across the US, or 1.08 for every warehousing job in the state.
• Warehousing and storage: 24,541 jobs in Colorado, 1.3% of the 1,901,976 across the US, or 1.00 for every warehousing job in the state.

The ladder around Colorado

States are ranked by warehousing and storage jobs. Colorado is 25th of 50; the table shows the two states above it and the two below.

Metros we list in Colorado

One metro in Colorado has a page with ZIPs, counties and corridors.

When something looks wrong

• Stop unloading and photograph the fault before anything moves.
• Count how many pallets show the same fault, to see if it is a lot problem or a one-off.
• Tell the desk or the seller in writing the same day, with the photographs attached.
• Hold the affected stacks apart until you hear back.
• Keep one sample pallet unused, so the maker or an inspector can examine it.

On the receiving dock

• Count stacks before pallets, then count the pallets in two stacks to confirm the tally.
• Lay a tape across the deck and along the runners of three pallets from different stacks.
• Look for pooled marks, bar codes and moulded owner names before anything is put away.
• Sign for the count and note any shortfall on the delivery receipt in the driver's presence.
• Photograph the stacks from both ends while the trailer doors are still open.

Asking for a lot in Colorado

USDA published no refrigerated warehouse figure for Colorado in its October 2025 count, so this page makes no cold-storage claim.

• Footprint: 48 x 40 in or 56 x 44 in
• Grade: like new or used and clean
• Quantity: a band, from a few pallet-loads to a truck
• ZIP: the Colorado receiving ZIP

Other states

• Delaware
• Minnesota
• Montana
• Nebraska
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• South Carolina
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

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