Editing Garfield County, Colorado

{{short description|County in Colorado, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox U.S. county
 | county               = Garfield County
 | state                = Colorado
 | flag                 = Garfield County (Colorado).png
 | seal                 = 
 | founded year         = 1883
 | founded date         = February 10
 | seat wl              = Glenwood Springs
 | largest city wl      = Rifle
 | area_total_sq_mi     = 2956
 | area_land_sq_mi      = 2948
 | area_water_sq_mi     = 8.3
 | area percentage      = 0.3%
 | census yr            = 2020
 | pop                  = 61685
 | pop_est_as_of        = 2023
 | population_est       = 62707 {{gain}}
 | density_sq_mi        = auto
 | time zone            = Mountain
 | footnotes            = 
 | web                  = www.garfield-county.com
 | named for            = [[James A. Garfield]]
 | district             = 3rd
 | ex image             = The Garfield County Courthouse and county office building in Glenwood Springs, Colorado LCCN2015633571.jpg
 | ex image cap         = Garfield County Courthouse in Glenwood Springs
 | motto                = "New Energy in the Wild West"<ref>{{cite web |title=Garfield County, Colorado |url=https://www.garfield-county.com/  |website=garfield-county.com}}</ref>
|pop_est_footnotes=<ref>{{Cite web |title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023 |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-counties-total.html |access-date=March 24, 2024 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> }}

'''Garfield County''' is a [[county]] located in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Colorado]]. As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], the population was 61,685, making it the second-most populous county in western Colorado and the 13th-most populous in the state.<ref name="2020Census">{{cite web|title=State & County QuickFacts|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/garfieldcountycolorado/PST045219|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 5, 2021}}</ref> The [[county seat]] is [[Glenwood Springs, Colorado|Glenwood Springs]], and the largest community is [[Rifle, Colorado|Rifle]].<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=June 7, 2011 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }}</ref> The county is named in honor of [[President of the United States|United States President]] [[James A. Garfield]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n133 134]}}</ref> 

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

==Geography==
According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|2956|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|2948|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|8.3|sqmi}} (0.3%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

===Adjacent counties===
*[[Rio Blanco County, Colorado|Rio Blanco County]] - north
*[[Routt County, Colorado|Routt County]] - northeast
*[[Eagle County, Colorado|Eagle County]] - east
*[[Pitkin County, Colorado|Pitkin County]] - southeast
*[[Mesa County, Colorado|Mesa County]] - south
*[[Grand County, Utah]] - southwest
*[[Uintah County, Utah]] - northwest

===Major highways===
* [[File:I-70 (CO).svg|20px]] [[Interstate 70 (Colorado)|Interstate 70]]
*{{jct|state=CO|BL|70|dab1=Rifle}}
*{{jct|state=CO|BL|70|dab1=Silt}}
* [[File:US 6.svg|20px]] [[U.S. Highway 6 (Colorado)|U.S. Highway 6]]
* [[File:Colorado 13.svg|20px]] [[Colorado State Highway 13|State Highway 13]]
* [[File:Colorado 82.svg|20px]] [[Colorado State Highway 82|State Highway 82]]
* [[File:Colorado 133.svg|20px]] [[Colorado State Highway 133|State Highway 133]]
* [[File:Colorado 139.svg|20px]] [[Colorado State Highway 139|State Highway 139]]
* [[File:Colorado 325.svg|20px]] [[Colorado State Highway 325|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==
{{US Census population
|1890= 4478
|1900= 5835
|1910= 10144
|1920= 9304
|1930= 9975
|1940= 10560
|1950= 11625
|1960= 12017
|1970= 14821
|1980= 22514
|1990= 29974
|2000= 43791
|2010= 56389
|2020= 61685
|estyear=2023
|estimate=62707
|estref=<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.html|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=March 31, 2024}}</ref>
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=June 8, 2014}}</ref><br />1790-1960<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu|title=Historical Census Browser|publisher=University of Virginia Library|access-date=June 8, 2014}}</ref> 1900-1990<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/co190090.txt|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=June 8, 2014}}</ref><br />1990-2000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327165705/http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-date=March 27, 2010 |url-status=live|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=June 8, 2014}}</ref> 2010-2020<ref name="2020Census" />
}}

The 2019 Census population estimate for Garfield County is 60,061,<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Garfield County, Colorado|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/garfieldcountycolorado|access-date=October 11, 2020|website=www.census.gov|language=en}}</ref> a 6.5% increase from the [[2010 United States Census|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==
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===
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 in the community of [[Cattle Creek, Colorado|Cattle Creek]], just south of Glenwood Springs. Additional branch campuses in Garfield County are located in Glenwood Springs, Rifle, and Carbondale.

==Economy==
===Top Employers===
As of its 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Garfield County's top employers are:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.garfield-county.com/finance/filesgcco/sites/18/2023-annual-comprehensive-financial-report.pdf |title=2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report |website=garfield-county.com}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! # !! 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 (US grocery store chain)|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==
===Structure===
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.garfield-county.com/board-commissioners/policy-directives/ |title=Policy Directives - Board of County Commissioners |website=garfield-county.com}}</ref>

===Emergency Services===
The Garfield County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement and civil services, and operates the Garfield County Jail in Glenwood Springs. GCSO also oversees the county's emergency management, search and rescue, and tactical response functions.

Colorado River Fire Rescue, established in 2012, oversees fire and paramedic response for much of the county. Glenwood Springs maintains its own municipal fire department. Also operating in the county is the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District, serving Carbondale and the nearby communities of [[Redstone, Colorado|Redstone]] (located in [[Pitkin County, Colorado|Pitkin County]]) and [[Marble, Colorado|Marble]] (located in [[Gunnison County, Colorado|Gunnison County]]).

===Public Transportation===
Public transportation 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 70-mile stretch from Rifle to [[Aspen, Colorado|Aspen]]. The Parachute Area Transit System (PATS) connects the western communities of Parachute and Battlement Mesa to Rifle, offering connecting routes to RFTA.

[[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]] 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===
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===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Position
! Elected Official
|-
|County Commissioner, District 1
|Tom Jankovsky
|-
|County Commissioner, District 2
|[[Perry Will]]
|-
|County Commissioner, District 3
|Mike Samson
|-
|County Assessor
|Jim Yellico 
|-
|County Clerk and Recorder
|Jackie Harmon
|-
|County Coroner
|Robert Glassmire
|-
|County Sheriff
|Lou Vallario
|-
|County Surveyor
|Scott Aibner
|-
|County Treasurer/Public Trustee
|Carrie Couey
|}

Garfield County lies within Colorado's 9th Judicial District, represented by District Attorney Benjamin Sollars.<ref>{{cite web |title=Meet the District Attorney |url=https://www.9daco.org/meet-the-district-attorney/ |website=District Attorney: 9th Judicial District |access-date=2024-12-29}}</ref> The 9th District, which serves Garfield, [[Pitkin County, Colorado|Pitkin]] and [[Rio Blanco County, Colorado|Rio Blanco]] counties, operates its main office at the Garfield County Courthouse in Glenwood Springs.

==Politics==
Voting participation rates in Garfield County are above the U.S. national average.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Election archives – Clerk and Recorder|url=https://www.garfield-county.com/clerk-recorder/election-archives/|access-date=October 11, 2020|website=www.garfield-county.com}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Voter turnout in the United States presidential elections|date=October 8, 2020|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Voter_turnout_in_the_United_States_presidential_elections&oldid=982487457|work=Wikipedia|language=en|access-date=October 11, 2020}}</ref> In the [[2018 Colorado elections|2018 general election]], 65% of eligible voters participated. In the [[2020 United States presidential election in Colorado|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 United States presidential election in Colorado|1884]] to 2020. Although the county includes the relatively liberal cities of [[Carbondale, Colorado|Carbondale]] and [[Glenwood Springs, Colorado|Glenwood Springs]], this is somewhat outweighed by the nearby towns of [[Rifle, Colorado|Rifle]], [[Silt, Colorado|Silt]], [[Parachute, Colorado|Parachute]], and [[Battlement Mesa, Colorado|Battlement Mesa]]. Until 2020, the most recent Democratic win was by [[Bill Clinton]] in [[1992 United States presidential election in Colorado|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 United States presidential election in Colorado|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 United States presidential election in Colorado|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 Colorado elections|2022]], during which it backed the Democratic candidates and eventual winners in every statewide race. In 2024 it once again went Democratic, though by a narrower plurality than in 2020.

The county lies in [[Colorado's 3rd congressional district]], represented by Republican [[Jeff Hurd (politician)|Jeff Hurd]].
{{PresHead|place=Garfield County, Colorado|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|first=David|last=Leip|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=November 27, 2020}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|14,493|15,128|755|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|14,717|15,427|760|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|13,132|11,271|2,067|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|12,535|11,305|568|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|11,359|11,357|366|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|11,123|9,228|296|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|9,103|6,087|1,914|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|6,281|5,722|2,135|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|4,404|5,082|4,490|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|6,358|4,620|136|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|7,111|3,076|98|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|5,416|2,639|1,270|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|4,699|2,852|315|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|4,452|2,088|178|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|3,157|2,273|613|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|2,282|3,196|10|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|3,215|2,313|11|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|3,332|1,953|12|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|3,914|1,777|28|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|2,416|2,364|42|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|2,588|1,865|11|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1940|Republican|2,894|2,141|26|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|1,945|2,406|177|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|1,734|2,946|130|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|2,435|1,562|59|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|1,934|917|921|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|1,912|1,489|119|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|1,139|2,479|197|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|824|1,806|1,275|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1908|Democratic|1,504|1,898|180|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|1,639|1,286|162|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1900|Democratic|826|1,700|32|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1896|Democratic|173|2,065|36|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1892|Populist|634|0|715|Colorado}}
{{PresRow|1888|Republican|1,110|820|30|Colorado}}
{{PresFoot|1884|Republican|245|139|0|Colorado}}

==Communities==

===Cities===
*[[Glenwood Springs, Colorado|Glenwood Springs]]
*[[Rifle, Colorado|Rifle]]

===Towns===

* [[Carbonate, Colorado|Carbonate]] (ghost town){{efn|Despite having no permanent population since the 1890 US Census, the town's property owners voted to reactivate the local government in 2014.}}
*[[Carbondale, Colorado|Carbondale]]
*[[New Castle, Colorado|New Castle]]
*[[Parachute, Colorado|Parachute]]
*[[Silt, Colorado|Silt]]

===Census-designated places===
*[[Battlement Mesa, Colorado|Battlement Mesa]]
*[[Catherine, Colorado|Catherine]]
*[[Cattle Creek, Colorado|Cattle Creek]]
*[[Chacra, Colorado|Chacra]]
*[[Mulford, Colorado|Mulford]]
*[[No Name, Colorado|No Name]]
{{clear}}

{{notelist}}

==See also==
{{portal|Government|History|Mountains|United States|Colorado}}
*[[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]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.garfield-county.com/ Garfield County Government website]
*[http://www.city-data.com/county/Garfield_County-CO.html Garfield County Statistical Data]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070205102713/http://www.stanwyck.com/cogenweb/cocounties.html Colorado County Evolution by Don Stanwyck]
*[http://www.coloradohistory.org/ Colorado Historical Society]

{{Geographic Location
|Centre    = Garfield County, Colorado
|North     = [[Rio Blanco County, Colorado|Rio Blanco County]]
|Northeast = [[Routt County, Colorado|Routt County]]
|East      = [[Eagle County, Colorado|Eagle County]]
|Southeast = [[Pitkin County, Colorado|Pitkin County]]
|South     = [[Mesa County, Colorado|Mesa County]]
|Southwest = [[Grand County, Utah]]
|West      = 
|Northwest = [[Uintah County, Utah]]
}} 
{{Garfield County, Colorado}}
{{Colorado}}
{{authority control}}
{{coord|39.60|-107.90|display=title|type:adm2nd_region:US-CO_source:UScensus1990}}

[[Category:Garfield County, Colorado| ]]
[[Category:Colorado counties]]
[[Category:1883 establishments in Colorado]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1883]]