Aurora () is a home rule city located in Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties, Colorado, United States. The city's population was 386,261 at the 2020 census, with 336,035 in Arapahoe County, 47,720 in Adams County, and 2,506 in Douglas County. It is the third-most-populous city in the state of Colorado and the 50th-most-populous city in the United States as of 2025. Aurora is a principal city of the Denver–Aurora–Centennial, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Denver-Aurora-Greeley, CO Combined Statistical Area, and a major city of the Front Range Urban Corridor.
History
Before European settlement, the land that now makes up Aurora was the territory of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Ute, and Sioux tribes. These lands were claimed by France in 1682 and subsequently became part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.In the 1980s, a subdivision named "Louisiana Purchase" was developed along Louisiana Avenue on the east side of the city.
Aurora originated in the 1890 as the town of Fletcher, taking its name from Denver businessman Donald Fletcher who saw it as a real estate opportunity. He and his partners staked out east of Denver, but the town—and Colorado—struggled mightily after the Silver Crash of 1893. The Town of Fletcher was incorporated on May 5, 1903. Fletcher skipped town, leaving the community with a huge water debt. Voters decided to rename Fletcher the Town of Aurora in 1907 after one of the subdivisions composing the town. The Aurora, Colorado, post office opened on January 15, 1908.
By February 1928, the town of Aurora had reached a population of over 2,000 and it was reincorporated as a city on March 9. Aurora slowly began to grow in Denver's shadow becoming the fastest-growing city in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Aurora, composed of hundreds of subdivisions, thus carries the name of one of the original development plats from which it sprang.
Aurora's growing population in recent decades has led to efforts for co-equal recognition with its larger neighbor. Former mayor Dennis Champine once expressed the somewhat whimsical notion that eventually the area would be called the "Aurora/Denver Metropolitan Area". Indeed, since the 2000 Census Aurora has surpassed Denver in land area, and much of Aurora is undeveloped, while Denver is more fully built-out. However, such efforts are somewhat hampered by the lack of a large, historically important central business district in the city. Aurora is largely suburban in character, as evidenced by the city's modest number of multi-story buildings.
A large military presence has existed in Aurora since the early 20th century. In 1918, Army General Hospital #21 (later renamed Fitzsimons Army Hospital) opened, with the U.S. government expanding and upgrading the hospital facilities in 1941 just in time to care for the wounded servicemen of World War II. Lowry Air Force Base was opened in 1938, straddling the border of Aurora and Denver. It eventually closed in 1994, and has been redeveloped into a master-planned community featuring residential, commercial, business and educational facilities. In 1942, the Army Air Corps built Buckley Field, which has been renamed Naval Air Station, Buckley Air National Guard Base, Buckley Air Force Base, and finally Buckley Space Force Base. The base, home of the Buckley Garrison and the 140th Wing Colorado Air National Guard, is Aurora's largest employer.
President Warren G. Harding visited Fitzsimons Army Hospital in 1923, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited in 1936. In 1943, the hospital was the birthplace of 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. President Dwight D. Eisenhower recovered from a heart attack at Fitzsimons for seven weeks during the fall of 1955. Decommissioned in 1999, the facility is part of the Anschutz Medical Campus of the University of Colorado Denver, and the Fitzsimons Life Science District. The Anschutz Medical Campus also includes the University of Colorado Hospital, which moved to Aurora from Denver in 2007, and the Children's Hospital. The first carbon-ion radiotherapy research and treatment facility in the U.S. has been proposed at the site. These facilities will employ a workforce of 32,000 at build-out.
In 1965, mayor Norma O. Walker became the first woman to head a U.S. city with a population over 60,000.
In 1978, the cult coming-of-age film Over the Edge was filmed in Aurora; the crime drama has been named the "signature film" of Denver.
In 1979, it was announced that a science fiction theme park would be built in Aurora using the sets of a $50 million film based on the fantasy novel Lord of Light. However, due to legal problems the project was never completed. The script of the unmade film project, renamed Argo, was used as cover for the "Canadian Caper": the exfiltration of six U.S. diplomatic staff trapped by the Iranian hostage crisis.
In 1993, Cherry Creek State Park on the southwestern edge of Aurora was the location for the papal mass of the 8th World Youth Day with Pope John Paul II, attended by an estimated 500,000 people.
Aurora is split among three counties and lies distant from the respective county seats. A consolidated city and county government such as those found elsewhere in Colorado (Denver and Broomfield) was considered in the mid-1990s but failed to win approval by city voters; the issue was reconsidered in 2006.
Aurora Sports Park opened in 2003. In 2004, Aurora was honored as the Sports Illustrated magazine's 50th-anniversary "Sportstown" for Colorado because of its exemplary involvement in facilitating and enhancing sports. The city attracts more than 30 regional and national sports tournaments annually to Aurora's fields. Aurora's active populace is also reflected in the variety of professional athletes hailing from the city. Aurora's first semi-professional sports franchise, the Aurora Cavalry in the International Basketball League, began play in 2006 but folded by season's end due to budget mishaps.
In 2008, Aurora was designated an All-America City by the National Civic League.
Aurora pioneered the use of bank filtration in the United States, becoming one of the first U.S. cities to reap the benefits of siphoning water from beneath a riverbed upon completion of the Prairie Waters Project in 2010.
In 2017, the Republic of El Salvador opened a consulate in Aurora, serving Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming. In 2024, the Republic of Honduras opened the city's second diplomatic post. La Plaza, the largest Hispanic food hall in the United States, opened in Aurora in 2024.
Aurora theater shooting
On July 20, 2012, Aurora was the site of the deadliest shooting by a lone shooter in Colorado (and the state's overall second deadliest, after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre). The shooting occurred just after midnight, when James Holmes opened fire during the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in a Century movie theater, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. Holmes was arrested and was eventually sentenced to 12 life sentences in prison with an additional required 3,318 years. The shooting drew an international response from world leaders. U.S. President Barack Obama visited victims, as well as local and state officials, and addressed the nation in a televised address from Aurora on July 22. Actor Christian Bale, who plays Batman in the film, also visited some victims in hospitals. The events marked a turning point in recognition and public perception of the city; rather than referring to the site as being in "Denver" or "suburban Denver", as would have been typical before the event, virtually all media accounts of the incident unequivocally named "Aurora" as its location.
Elijah McClain
On August 30, 2019, Elijah McClain died six days after an unprovoked detention by two Aurora police officers. On June 27, 2020, Aurora Police in riot gear dispersed thousands of protestors at a violin concert held in his honor. On October 12, 2023, one of the officers involved in McClain's death was found guilty on charges of assault and negligent homicide, while another officer was acquitted on all charges against him, which included assault and reckless manslaughter.
2024 U.S. Presidential Election Aurora received national media attention during the run-up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election. In September 2024, statements made by mayor Mike Coffman and city council member Danielle Jurinsky, both Republicans, falsely claimed that the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang had taken control of an Aurora apartment complex and was extorting residents for their rent money. Jurinsky appeared on Fox News alleging "a huge cover-up" and that this "isn't just an Aurora issue." Presidential candidate Donald Trump repeated the claims during his September 10 debate with Kamala Harris, and subsequently scheduled a campaign rally in Aurora. Mayor Coffman denied the city was overrun by Venezuelan gangs. At the October 11 rally at Aurora's Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, Trump intensified his remarks regarding undocumented immigration and proposed an "Operation Aurora" to remove undocumented immigrants connected to gangs. At a press conference held the same day at Aurora's Stanley Marketplace to denounce Trump's rally, Colorado Governor Jared Polis said, "We welcome the eyes of the nation on a true Colorado gem, the great city of Aurora."
Following Trump's inauguration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted raids targeting suspected Tren de Aragua gang members in Aurora and Denver. During a speech to a joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025, Trump falsely claimed immigrants "destroyed" Aurora and that the city had "buckled under the weight of migrant occupation." The apartment complex at the root of the controversy was eventually shut down by a court order describing it as a threat to public safety. Aurora's police chief, who advocated for the closure, stated that property mismanagement was to blame, and not gang activity among tenants.
Geography
Aurora's official elevation, posted on signs at the city limits, is . However, the city spans a difference in elevation of nearly . The lowest elevation of is found at the point where Sand Creek crosses the city limit in the northwest corner of the city, while the highest elevation of is on the extreme southern border of the city in Douglas County, near the intersection of Inspiration and Gartrell roads.
According to 2023 data published by the United States census, the city has a total area of including of water. The city is about 6 percent more extensive than neighboring Denver but 80 percent of the size of Colorado Springs, ranking as the 54th-largest U.S. city in land area.
Neighborhoods Aurora is composed of dozens of neighborhoods, districts and (current and former) military installations. Among them:
Adonea Anschutz Medical Campus Aurora Heights Aurora Highlands Aurora Hills Aurora Knolls Beacon Point Berkshire Village Blackstone Brookvale Buckley Space Force Base Carriage Place Centretech Chadsford Chaddsford Village Chambers Heights Chelsea Cinnamon Village II City Center Conservatory Copperleaf Corning Crestridge Cross Creek The Dam East Del Mar The Dam West Downtown A-Town (the Fletcher townsite, Aurora's "downtown") Eastridge East Quincy Highlands Fox Hill Greenfield Gunk Club Hallcraft's Village East Hampton Hills Havana Heights Heather Gardens Heather Ridge Heritage Eagle Bend Golf Club Highline Villages Highpoint Hillside at Del Mar Hoffman Heights Horizon Uptown Horseshoe Park Hutchinson Heights Inspiration Jackson Farm Kingsborough Laredo-Highline Lowry Campus (formerly Lowry Air Force Base) Lynn Knoll Majestic Commercenter II Meadowood Meadow Hills Mission Viejo Morris Heights Murphy Creek Peoria Park Peterson Pheasant Run Piney Creek Pioneer Hills Ponderosa Ridge Porteos Prides Crossing Ptarmigan Park Queensborough Quincy Hill