Garfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,685. 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 (0.3%) is water.
Adjacent counties
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
Interstate 70
U.S. Highway 6
State Highway 13
State Highway 82
State Highway 133
State Highway 139
State Highway 325
Protected areas
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
Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway National Scenic Byway
Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway
West Elk Loop Scenic Byway
Demographics
The 2019 Census population estimate for Garfield County is 60,061, 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
Public Schools
Garfield County is served by three main 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; and Garfield County School District 16, which serves Parachute and Battlement Mesa.
Private Schools
Garfield County is home to two private schools: Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, and Liberty Classical Academy in New Castle.
Higher Education
The county is home to the Glenwood Springs, Rifle, Carbondale, and Spring Valley campuses of Colorado Mountain College, a community college with campuses across western Colorado. Colorado Mesa University, a public four-year university in neighboring Mesa County, is a common university destination for Garfield County students. CMU is located in Grand Junction, 62 miles west of Rifle and 87 miles from Glenwood Springs.
Politics
Voting participation rates in Garfield County are above the U.S. national average. 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 (2008 - 2018 data) with an estimated range of two to one-thousand 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, Joe Biden was just 26 votes shy of having the majority of the vote in the county.