Chaffee County, Colorado

Chaffee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,476.^[2] The county seat is Salida.^[4]

Chaffee County
county
Old Chaffee County Courthouse
Nickname:  Heart of the Rockies
Location within the U.S. state of Colorado
Colorado's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 38.74°N 106.18°W / 38.74; -106.18
Country	United States
State	Colorado
Founded	February 10, 1879
Named after	Jerome B. Chaffee
Seat	Salida
Largest City	Salida
Other cities	Buena Vista Poncha Springs
Area [1]
• Total	1,014.95 sq mi (2,628.7 km2)
• Land	1,013.41 sq mi (2,624.7 km2)
• Water	1.54 sq mi (4.0 km2)  0.15%
Population  (2020)[2]
• Total	19,476
• Estimate  (2024)[3]	20,780
• Density	20.47/sq mi (7.90/km2)
Time zones
Congressional district	7th
Website	[ www.chaffeecounty.org/%20www.chaffeecounty.org]]

History

Chaffee County has a confusing origin. Between February 8 and 10, 1879, Carbonate County was created by the Colorado legislature out of northern Lake County. On February 10 the two counties were renamed, with the southern part of Lake County becoming Chaffee County, and Carbonate County becoming Lake County. Chaffee County is known as the “Heart of the Rockies”. It was named for Jerome B. Chaffee,^[5] Colorado's first United States Senator.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,014.95 square miles (2,628.7 km²), of which 1,013.41 square miles (2,624.7 km²) is land and 1.54 square miles (4.0 km²) (0.15%) is water.^[1]

Salida, Colorado with Sangre de Cristo Range in background

Adjacent counties

• Lake County - north
• Park County - northeast
• Fremont County - southeast
• Saguache County - south
• Gunnison County - west
• Pitkin County - northwest

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 24
• U.S. Highway 50
• U.S. Highway 285
• State Highway 291
• State Highway 306

National protected areas

• Browns Canyon National Monument
• Buffalo Peaks Wilderness
• Collegiate Peaks Wilderness
• San Isabel National Forest

Recreation area

• Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area

Trails

• American Discovery Trail
• Colorado Trail
• Continental Divide National Scenic Trail

Bicycle routes

• Great Parks Bicycle Route
• Western Express Bicycle Route

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	6,512		—
1890	6,612		1.5%
1900	7,085		7.2%
1910	7,622		7.6%
1920	7,753		1.7%
1930	8,126		4.8%
1940	8,109		−0.2%
1950	7,168		−11.6%
1960	8,298		15.8%
1970	10,162		22.5%
1980	13,227		30.2%
1990	12,684		−4.1%
2000	16,242		28.1%
2010	17,809		9.6%
2020	19,476		9.4%
2024 (est.)	20,780	[6]	6.7%
U.S. Decennial Census[7] 1790-1960[8] 1900-1990[9] 1990-2000[10] 2010-2020[2]

At the 2000 census there were 16,242 people, 6,584 households, and 4,365 families living in the county. The population density was 16 people per square mile (6.2 people/km²). There were 8,392 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3.1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.94% White, 1.58% Black or African American, 1.09% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 4.21% from other races, and 1.69% from two or more races. 8.58% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.^[11] Of the 6,584 households 25.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.70% were married couples living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.70% were non-families. 28.40% of households were one person and 11.20% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.77.

The age distribution was 19.70% under the age of 18, 7.70% from 18 to 24, 28.00% from 25 to 44, 27.50% from 45 to 64, and 17.00% 65 or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 116.20 males.

The median household income was $34,368 and the median family income was $42,043. Males had a median income of $30,770 versus $22,219 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,430. About 7.40% of families and 11.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.30% of those under age 18 and 10.20% of those age 65 or over.

Chaffee County is also home to a source of water that Arrowhead water uses for some water bottles. The source is Ruby Mountain Springs.^[12]

Politics

Chaffee County was long a Republican stronghold, but has recently trended towards the Democrats. In 2008 Barack Obama lost the county by only 11 votes, and he carried it in 2012 by 16 votes, the first Democrat to win it since Lyndon Johnson's 1964 landslide. In 2016 Donald Trump flipped the county narrowly back into the Republican column, but Joe Biden won the county in 2020, the first candidate from either party to win the county by a full majority since 2004. Kamala Harris won the county by a larger margin in 2024, becoming the first Democratic presidential nominee to win the county while losing the presidential election since 1908.

United States presidential election results for Chaffee County, Colorado^[13]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	6,034	41.84%	7,992	55.41%	397	2.75%
2020	6,222	45.36%	7,160	52.19%	336	2.45%
2016	5,391	47.92%	4,888	43.45%	971	8.63%
2012	5,070	48.46%	5,086	48.61%	306	2.92%
2008	4,873	49.12%	4,862	49.01%	186	1.87%
2004	4,875	55.59%	3,766	42.94%	129	1.47%
2000	4,300	56.50%	2,768	36.37%	542	7.12%
1996	3,052	46.85%	2,768	42.49%	695	10.67%
1992	2,419	38.51%	2,284	36.36%	1,579	25.14%
1988	3,080	53.90%	2,548	44.59%	86	1.51%
1984	3,680	66.31%	1,779	32.05%	91	1.64%
1980	3,327	60.73%	1,583	28.90%	568	10.37%
1976	2,925	56.66%	2,064	39.98%	173	3.35%
1972	2,859	66.63%	1,354	31.55%	78	1.82%
1968	2,121	51.07%	1,667	40.14%	365	8.79%
1964	1,476	37.36%	2,463	62.34%	12	0.30%
1960	2,094	52.14%	1,918	47.76%	4	0.10%
1956	2,284	63.67%	1,303	36.33%	0	0.00%
1952	2,171	56.70%	1,643	42.91%	15	0.39%
1948	2,065	57.68%	1,476	41.23%	39	1.09%
1944	1,675	48.83%	1,731	50.47%	24	0.70%
1940	1,933	46.91%	2,153	52.24%	35	0.85%
1936	1,069	29.18%	2,447	66.78%	148	4.04%
1932	1,061	29.24%	2,393	65.96%	174	4.80%
1928	1,880	59.49%	1,230	38.92%	50	1.58%
1924	1,336	43.40%	612	19.88%	1,130	36.71%
1920	1,501	52.91%	1,233	43.46%	103	3.63%
1916	864	24.59%	2,546	72.47%	103	2.93%
1912	723	21.30%	1,641	48.34%	1,031	30.37%
1908	1,233	38.23%	1,679	52.06%	313	9.71%
1904	1,611	46.90%	1,601	46.61%	223	6.49%
1900	1,033	34.41%	1,890	62.96%	79	2.63%
1896	141	5.10%	2,606	94.35%	15	0.54%
1892	678	40.12%	0	0.00%	1,012	59.88%
1888	1,277	56.21%	941	41.42%	54	2.38%
1884	1,142	53.46%	986	46.16%	8	0.37%
1880	1,135	48.50%	1,188	50.77%	17	0.73%

Communities

Chaffee County, Colorado

Buffalo Peaks near Buena Vista

City

• Salida

Towns

• Buena Vista
• Poncha Springs

Census-designated places

• Garfield
• Johnson Village
• Maysville
• Nathrop
• Smeltertown

Unincorporated communities

• Alpine
• Belleview
• Browns Canon
• Centerville
• Cleora
• Futurity
• Granite
• Hamilton
• Newett
• Princeton
• Riverside
• Rockdale
• St. Elmo
• Stonewall
• Turret

Ghost towns

• St. Elmo
• Vicksburg
• Winfield

See also

• 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 Chaffee County, Colorado
• Index of Colorado-related articles
• List of Colorado-related lists
  • List of counties in Colorado
• Outline of Colorado