Garfield County, Colorado


Garfield County is a county in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2010 census, the population was 56,389. The county seat is Glenwood Springs. The county is named in honor of United States President James A. Garfield.
Garfield County is included in the Glenwood Springs, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Edwards-Glenwood Springs, CO Combined Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.

Adjacent counties

At the 2000 census there were 43,791 people, 16,229 households, and 11,279 families living in the county. The population density was 15 people per square mile. There were 17,336 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 89.96% White, 0.45% Black or African American, 0.71% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 6.53% from other races, and 1.84% from two or more races. 16.67% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 18.1% were of German, 11.1% English, 11.0% Irish, 7.1% American and 5.6% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000.
Of the 16,229 households 37.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.60% were married couples living together, 7.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.50% were non-families. 22.80% of households were one person and 6.30% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.11.
The age distribution was 27.10% under the age of 18, 9.00% from 18 to 24, 33.00% from 25 to 44, 22.10% from 45 to 64, and 8.80% 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 105.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.00 males.
The median household income was $47,016 and the median family income was $53,840. Males had a median income of $37,554 versus $27,280 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,341. About 4.60% of families and 7.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.10% of those under age 18 and 5.50% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Garfield County has primarily voted for Republican Party candidates in presidential elections throughout its history, with the county only failing to back the Republican candidates six times from 1912 to the present day. Although the county includes the relatively liberal city of Glenwood Springs, this is outweighed by the extremely conservative city of Rifle, as well as the nearby towns of Silt, Parachute, and Battlement Mesa. The most recent Democratic win was by Bill Clinton in 1992, but Republicans have been held to a plurality of the county's votes in half of the six following presidential elections.
YearRepublicanDemocraticOthers
201649.6% 13,13242.6% 11,2717.8% 2,067
201251.4% 12,53546.3% 11,3052.3% 568
200849.2% 11,35949.2% 11,3571.6% 366
200453.9% 11,12344.7% 9,2281.4% 296
200053.2% 9,10335.6% 6,08711.2% 1,914
199644.4% 6,28140.5% 5,72215.1% 2,135
199231.5% 4,40436.4% 5,08232.1% 4,490
198857.2% 6,35841.6% 4,6201.2% 136
198469.1% 7,11129.9% 3,0761.0% 98
198058.1% 5,41628.3% 2,63913.6% 1,270
197659.7% 4,69936.3% 2,8524.0% 315
197266.3% 4,45231.1% 2,0882.7% 178
196852.2% 3,15737.6% 2,27310.1% 613
196441.6% 2,28258.2% 3,1960.2% 10
196058.0% 3,21541.8% 2,3130.2% 11
195662.9% 3,33236.9% 1,9530.2% 12
195268.4% 3,91431.1% 1,7770.5% 28
194850.1% 2,41649.0% 2,3640.9% 42
194458.0% 2,58841.8% 1,8650.3% 11
194057.2% 2,89442.3% 2,1410.5% 26
193643.0% 1,94553.1% 2,4063.9% 177
193236.1% 1,73461.3% 2,9462.7% 130
192860.0% 2,43538.5% 1,5621.5% 59
192451.3% 1,93424.3% 91724.4% 921
192054.3% 1,91242.3% 1,4893.4% 119
191629.9% 1,13965.0% 2,4795.2% 197
191221.1% 82446.3% 1,80632.7% 1,275

Communities

Cities