Denver is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains due east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. With a population of 715,522 as of the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010, Denver is the 19th most populous city in the United States and the fifth most populous state capital. It is the principal city of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood metropolitan statistical area, with almost 3 million people the most populous metropolitan area in Colorado. Denver is the economic and cultural center of the broader Front Range Urban Corridor, home to more than 5 million people.