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.

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

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

• 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

• 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

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

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%
2023 (est.)	62,707		1.7%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2020

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%)

Garfield County is served by three public school districts:

• Roaring Fork School District RE-1, serving Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, and Basalt
• 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.

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.

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 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.

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

United States presidential election results for Garfield County, Colorado

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%

• Glenwood Springs
• Rifle

• Carbonate (ghost town)
• Carbondale
• New Castle
• Parachute
• Silt

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

• 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

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

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