Garfield County, Colorado

County in Colorado, United States

County in Colorado

Garfield County

County

Garfield County Courthouse in Glenwood Springs

Flag

Motto:

"New Energy in the Wild West"[1]

Location within the U.S. state of Colorado

Colorado's location within the U.S.

Coordinates: 39°36′N 107°54′W﻿ / ﻿39.6°N 107.9°W﻿ / 39.6; -107.9
Country|  United States
State|  Colorado
Founded| February 10, 1883
Named after| James A. Garfield
Seat| Glenwood Springs
Largest city| Rifle
Area

• Total

| 2,956 sq mi (7,660 km2)
• Land| 2,948 sq mi (7,640 km2)
• Water| 8.3 sq mi (21 km2)  0.3%
Population

(2020)

• Total

| 61,685

• Estimate

(2024)[2]

| 63,167
• Density| 21/sq mi (8.1/km2)
Time zone| UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)| UTC−6 (MDT)
Congressional district| 3rd
Website| www.garfield-county.com

Garfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,685.[3] The county seat is Glenwood Springs, and the largest community is Rifle.[4] The county is named in honor of United States President James A. Garfield.[5]

Garfield County is included in the Rifle-Glenwood Springs Micropolitan Statistical Area, which also includes neighboring Pitkin County and is home to nearly 80,000 residents. The county is also included in the Glenwood Springs-Edwards combined statistical area.

## Geography

[edit]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,956 square miles (7,660 km2), of which 2,948 square miles (7,640 km2) is land and 8.3 square miles (21 km2) (0.3%) is water.[6]

### Adjacent counties

[edit]

* Rio Blanco County \- north
* Routt County \- northeast
* Eagle County \- east
* Pitkin County \- southeast
* Mesa County \- south
* Grand County, Utah \- southwest
* Uintah County, Utah \- northwest

### Major highways

[edit]

* Interstate 70
* I-70 BL
* I-70 BL
* U.S. Highway 6
* State Highway 13
* State Highway 82
* State Highway 133
* State Highway 139
* State Highway 325

### Protected areas

[edit]

* Flat Tops Wilderness
* Grand Mesa National Forest
* Harvey Gap State Park
* Rifle Falls State Park
* Rifle Gap State Park
* Routt National Forest
* White River National Forest

### Scenic byways

[edit]

* Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway National Scenic Byway
* Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway
* West Elk Loop Scenic Byway

## Demographics

[edit]

Historical population Census| Pop.| Note| %±

|
|
|

1890| 4,478| | —
1900| 5,835| | 30.3%
1910| 10,144| | 73.8%
1920| 9,304| | −8.3%
1930| 9,975| | 7.2%
1940| 10,560| | 5.9%
1950| 11,625| | 10.1%
1960| 12,017| | 3.4%
1970| 14,821| | 23.3%
1980| 22,514| | 51.9%
1990| 29,974| | 33.1%
2000| 43,791| | 46.1%
2010| 56,389| | 28.8%
2020| 61,685| | 9.4%
2024 (est.)| 63,167| [2]| 2.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[7]
1790-1960[8] 1900-1990[9]
1990-2000[10] 2010-2020[3]

The 2019 Census population estimate for Garfield County is 60,061,[11] a 6.5% increase from the 2010 Census.

* Population density per square mile: 19.1 (2010)
* Race Estimations (2019)
* White alone, not Hispanic or Latino (67.4%)
* Hispanic or Latino (29.3%)
* Black or African American alone (1.3%)
* American Indian and Alaskan Native alone (1.7%)
* Asian, alone (0.9%)
* Two or more races (2.0%)
* Age and Sex Estimations (2019)
* Persons under 5 years of age (6.8%)
* Persons under 18 years of age (24.9%)
* Persons 65 years of age and over (13.8%)
* Female persons (48.9%)
* Housing
* Housing units, 2019: (24,363)
* Owner occupied housing unit rate, 2014-2018: (66.9%)
* Persons per household, 2014-2018: (2.73)
* Education (2014-2018)
* High school graduate (87.5%)
* Bachelor's degree or higher (30.0%)
* Income and Poverty (2014 - 2018)
* Median household income: ($72, 898)
* Per capita income: $32,491)
* Persons in poverty: (8.4%)

## Education

[edit]

Garfield County is served by three public school districts:

* Roaring Fork School District RE-1, serving Glenwood Springs and Carbondale
* Garfield County School District RE-2, serving Rifle, New Castle, and Silt
* Garfield County School District 16, serving Parachute and Battlement Mesa

The county is also home to private schools, including Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, St. Stephen Catholic School in Glenwood Springs, and Liberty Classical Academy in New Castle.

### Higher Education

[edit]

The county is home to multiple campuses of Colorado Mountain College, a community college serving much of western Colorado. CMC operates a flagship residential campus at Spring Valley, just south of Glenwood Springs. Additional branch campuses in Garfield County are located in Glenwood Springs, Rifle, and Carbondale.

## Economy

[edit]

### Top Employers

[edit]

As of its 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Garfield County's top employers are:[12]

# | Employer | Employee range

|
|

1 | Valley View Hospital | 1,000 - 1,250
2 | Roaring Fork School District RE-1 | 500 - 999
3 | Garfield County School District RE-2 | 500 - 999
4 | Grand River Hospital | 500 - 999
5 | City Market | 500 - 999
6 | Garfield County | 250 - 499
7 | Colorado Mountain College | 250 - 499
8 | Walmart | 250 - 499
9 | City of Glenwood Springs | 200 - 499
10 | Alpine Bank | 100 - 249

## Government

[edit]

### Structure

[edit]

Garfield County is governed by a board of three county commissioners, who oversee the county's financial affairs, infrastructure developments, public health matters, and general economic development.[13]

### County Offices

[edit]

As the seat of Garfield County, the city of Glenwood Springs is home to many of the county's offices, including all of its elected offices (with the exception of the coroner's office, which is located in the town of Silt). The Garfield County courthouse, sheriff's office, jail, and county administration building are all located on 8th Street in downtown Glenwood Springs. The county also maintains several other offices and public services in the city of Rifle, including the county's public airport, landfill, and community corrections.

### Public Transportation

[edit]

Public transportation in the county is provided by the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority. RFTA is the second-largest public transportation entity in Colorado (behind the Denver area's Regional Transportation District), and the largest rural public transit provider in the United States, operating busses across a nearly 70-mile stretch from Rifle to Aspen. Local transportation services in the county include Ride Glenwood Springs, the Carbondale Circulator, and the Parachute Area Transit System.

Bustang, Colorado's inter-city bus service, runs its east-west route from Denver Union Station to Grand Junction, making stops in Glenwood Springs, Rifle, and Parachute.

Amtrak, running from Chicago, Illinois to Emeryville, California, makes a stop in Glenwood Springs.

Garfield County is home to two airports: Rifle Garfield County Airport is located just east of the city of Rifle, while KGWS Sumers Airpark (formerly known as the Glenwood Springs Municipal Airport) is located in south Glenwood Springs.

### Prison

[edit]

The Rifle Correctional Center, operated by the Colorado Department of Corrections, is a 192-bed minimum security prison located in unincorporated Garfield County, nine miles north of Rifle.

### Elected Officials

[edit]

Position  | Elected Official

|

County Commissioner  | Tom Jankovsky
County Commissioner  | Perry Will
County Commissioner  | Mike Samson
Assessor  | Jim Yellico
Clerk & Recorder  | Jackie Harmon
Coroner  | Robert Glassmire
Sheriff  | Lou Vallario
Surveyor  | Scott Aibner
Treasurer/Public Trustee  | Carrie Couey

Garfield County lies within Colorado's 9th Judicial District, represented by District Attorney Benjamin Sollars.[14] The 9th District, which serves Garfield, Pitkin and Rio Blanco counties, operates its main office at the Garfield County Courthouse in Glenwood Springs.

## Politics

[edit]

Voting participation rates in Garfield County are above the U.S. national average.[15][16] In the 2018 general election, 65% of eligible voters participated. In the 2020 presidential election, 84.47% eligible voters participated. The county leans slightly Republican based on vote totals in elections from 2008 to 2018, with an estimated range of 2 to 1,000 votes often determining candidate outcomes for the county.

Garfield County has primarily voted for Republican Party candidates in presidential elections throughout its history, with the county only failing to back the Republican candidate ten times from 1884 to 2020. Although the county includes the relatively liberal cities of Carbondale and Glenwood Springs, this is somewhat outweighed by the nearby towns of Rifle, Silt, Parachute, and Battlement Mesa. Until 2020, the most recent Democratic win was by Bill Clinton in 1992, but Republicans were held to a plurality of the county's votes in half of the six following presidential elections prior to 2020. Notably, Barack Obama lost the county to John McCain by two votes in 2008.

In 2020, Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the county since Clinton in 1992, with about 50% of the vote. No Democratic presidential candidate has won a majority of the vote in the county since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, although in 2020, Biden was just 26 votes shy of having the majority of the vote in the county. The county's leftward trend continued significantly in 2022, during which it backed the Democratic candidates and eventual winners in every statewide race. In 2024 it once again went Democratic, voting for Kamala Harris, though by a slightly narrower plurality than in 2020.

The county lies in Colorado's 3rd congressional district, represented by Republican Jeff Hurd.

United States presidential election results for Garfield County, Colorado[17] Year  | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies)

|
|
|

No.  | % | No.  | % | No.  | %
2024 | 14,493  | 47.71%  | 15,128  | 49.80% | 755  | 2.49%
2020 | 14,717  | 47.62%  | 15,427  | 49.92% | 760  | 2.46%
2016 | 13,132  | 49.61% | 11,271  | 42.58%  | 2,067  | 7.81%
2012 | 12,535  | 51.36% | 11,305  | 46.32%  | 568  | 2.33%
2008 | 11,359  | 49.21% | 11,357  | 49.20%  | 366  | 1.59%
2004 | 11,123  | 53.87% | 9,228  | 44.69%  | 296  | 1.43%
2000 | 9,103  | 53.22% | 6,087  | 35.59%  | 1,914  | 11.19%
1996 | 6,281  | 44.43% | 5,722  | 40.47%  | 2,135  | 15.10%
1992 | 4,404  | 31.51%  | 5,082  | 36.36% | 4,490  | 32.13%
1988 | 6,358  | 57.21% | 4,620  | 41.57%  | 136  | 1.22%
1984 | 7,111  | 69.14% | 3,076  | 29.91%  | 98  | 0.95%
1980 | 5,416  | 58.08% | 2,639  | 28.30%  | 1,270  | 13.62%
1976 | 4,699  | 59.74% | 2,852  | 36.26%  | 315  | 4.00%
1972 | 4,452  | 66.27% | 2,088  | 31.08%  | 178  | 2.65%
1968 | 3,157  | 52.24% | 2,273  | 37.61%  | 613  | 10.14%
1964 | 2,282  | 41.58%  | 3,196  | 58.24% | 10  | 0.18%
1960 | 3,215  | 58.04% | 2,313  | 41.76%  | 11  | 0.20%
1956 | 3,332  | 62.90% | 1,953  | 36.87%  | 12  | 0.23%
1952 | 3,914  | 68.44% | 1,777  | 31.07%  | 28  | 0.49%
1948 | 2,416  | 50.10% | 2,364  | 49.03%  | 42  | 0.87%
1944 | 2,588  | 57.97% | 1,865  | 41.78%  | 11  | 0.25%
1940 | 2,894  | 57.18% | 2,141  | 42.30%  | 26  | 0.51%
1936 | 1,945  | 42.95%  | 2,406  | 53.14% | 177  | 3.91%
1932 | 1,734  | 36.05%  | 2,946  | 61.25% | 130  | 2.70%
1928 | 2,435  | 60.03% | 1,562  | 38.51%  | 59  | 1.45%
1924 | 1,934  | 51.27% | 917  | 24.31%  | 921  | 24.42%
1920 | 1,912  | 54.32% | 1,489  | 42.30%  | 119  | 3.38%
1916 | 1,139  | 29.86%  | 2,479  | 64.98% | 197  | 5.16%
1912 | 824  | 21.10%  | 1,806  | 46.25% | 1,275  | 32.65%
1908 | 1,504  | 41.99%  | 1,898  | 52.99% | 180  | 5.03%
1904 | 1,639  | 53.09% | 1,286  | 41.66%  | 162  | 5.25%
1900 | 826  | 32.29%  | 1,700  | 66.46% | 32  | 1.25%
1896 | 173  | 7.61%  | 2,065  | 90.81% | 36  | 1.58%
1892 | 634  | 47.00%  | 0  | 0.00%  | 715  | 53.00%
1888 | 1,110  | 56.63% | 820  | 41.84%  | 30  | 1.53%
1884 | 245  | 63.80% | 139  | 36.20%  | 0  | 0.00%

## Communities

[edit]

### Cities

[edit]

* Glenwood Springs (county seat)
* Rifle

### Towns

[edit]

* Carbonate (ghost town)[a]
* Carbondale
* New Castle
* Parachute
* Silt

### Census-designated places

[edit]

* Battlement Mesa
* Catherine
* Cattle Creek
* Chacra
* Mulford
* No Name

1. ^ Despite having no permanent population since the 1890 US Census, Carbonate's property owners voted to reactivate the local government in 2014. The town is the only incorporated municipality in Colorado with no permanent population.

## See also

[edit]

* Government portal
* History portal
* Mountains portal
* United States portal
* Colorado portal

* Bibliography of Colorado
* Geography of Colorado
* History of Colorado
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Garfield County, Colorado
* Index of Colorado-related articles
* List of Colorado-related lists
* List of counties in Colorado
* List of statistical areas in Colorado
* Outline of Colorado

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Garfield County, Colorado". garfield-county.com.
2. ^ a b "County Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020-2024". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
3. ^ a b "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
4. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
5. ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 134.
6. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
7. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
8. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
9. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
10. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
11. ^ "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Garfield County, Colorado". www.census.gov. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
12. ^ "2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report" (PDF). garfield-county.com.
13. ^ "Policy Directives - Board of County Commissioners". garfield-county.com.
14. ^ "Meet the District Attorney". District Attorney: 9th Judicial District. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
15. ^ "Election archives – Clerk and Recorder". www.garfield-county.com. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
16. ^ "Voter turnout in the United States presidential elections", Wikipedia, October 8, 2020, retrieved October 11, 2020
17. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved November 27, 2020.

## External links

[edit]

* Garfield County Government website
* Garfield County Statistical Data
* Colorado County Evolution by Don Stanwyck
* Colorado Historical Society

* v
* t
* e

Places adjacent to Garfield County, Colorado

| Uintah County, Utah | Rio Blanco County | Routt County

|
|

|  |

Garfield County, Colorado

| Eagle County
|  |
Grand County, Utah | Mesa County | Pitkin County

* v
* t
* e

Municipalities and communities of Garfield County, Colorado, United States

County seat: Glenwood Springs

Cities|

* Glenwood Springs
* Rifle

Map of Colorado highlighting Garfield County

Towns|

* Carbonate
* Carbondale
* New Castle
* Parachute
* Silt

CDPs|

* Battlement Mesa
* Catherine
* Cattle Creek
* Chacra
* Mulford
* No Name

Unincorporated
communities|

* Antlers
* Rulison

Ghost town|

* Carbonate

* Colorado portal
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* v
* t
* e

State of Colorado

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39°36′N 107°54′W﻿ / ﻿39.60°N 107.90°W﻿ / 39.60; -107.90
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