Colorado Counties Ranked
The following table ranks the sixty-four Colorado counties by three criteria:
Land Area - Ranging from Las Animas, 1st with 4,771 square miles, to Broomfield, 64th with a bit less than 27.5 square miles.
2000 Population - Ranging from Denver, 1st with 554,636 residents, to San Juan, 64th with 558 residents.
Elbow Room - The converse of population density. The ranking ranges from Hinsdale, 1st at 903 acres per resident, to Denver, 64th with 8 residents per acre. Colorado as a state has only 15 acres per person and if ranked with the counties would be 54th (between Weld and Summit).
The Rankings
| County | Land Area |
2000 Pop' |
Elbow Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 38 | 5 | 59 |
| Alamosa | 53 | 29 | 43 |
| Arapahoe | 48 | 4 | 61 |
| Archuleta | 33 | 37 | 30 |
| Baca | 11 | 52 | 8 |
| Bent | 32 | 46 | 17 |
| Boulder | 51 | 6 | 60 |
| Broomfield* | 64 | 16 | 63 |
| Chaffe | 43 | 26 | 40 |
| Cheyenne | 24 | 58 | 5 |
| Clear Creek | 59 | 39 | 45 |
| Conejos | 35 | 40 | 25 |
| Costilla | 39 | 55 | 14 |
| Crowley | 49 | 49 | 29 |
| Custer | 52 | 56 | 20 |
| County | Land Area |
2000 Pop' |
Elbow Room |
| Delta | 40 | 18 | 46 |
| Denver | 63 | 1 | 64 |
| Dolores | 42 | 59 | 7 |
| Douglas | 47 | 9 | 57 |
| Eagle | 27 | 15 | 47 |
| Elbert | 22 | 25 | 33 |
| El Paso | 19 | 3 | 58 |
| Fremont | 31 | 12 | 49 |
| Garfield | 8 | 14 | 37 |
| Gilpin | 62 | 51 | 50 |
| Grand | 21 | 35 | 27 |
| Gunnison | 5 | 33 | 19 |
| Hinsdale | 41 | 63 | 1 |
| Huerfano | 30 | 42 | 21 |
| County | Land Area |
2000 Pop' |
Elbow Room |
| Jackson | 29 | 61 | 4 |
| Jefferson | 50 | 2 | 62 |
| Kiowa | 25 | 60 | 2 |
| Kit Carson | 18 | 41 | 16 |
| Lake | 61 | 43 | 42 |
| La Plata | 26 | 13 | 48 |
| Larimer | 9 | 7 | 56 |
| Las Animas | 1 | 28 | 15 |
| Lincoln | 10 | 45 | 12 |
| Logan | 23 | 23 | 34 |
| Mesa | 4 | 11 | 51 |
| Mineral | 46 | 62 | 3 |
| Moffat | 2 | 34 | 13 |
| Montezuma | 20 | 20 | 35 |
| Montrose | 16 | 17 | 38 |
| Morgan | 36 | 19 | 44 |
| County | Land Area |
2000 Pop' |
Elbow Room |
| Otero | 37 | 24 | 41 |
| Ouray | 57 | 54 | 28 |
| Park | 17 | 31 | 26 |
| Phillips | 54 | 53 | 24 |
| Pitkin | 44 | 30 | 39 |
| Prowers | 28 | 32 | 32 |
| Pueblo | 13 | 10 | 55 |
| Rio Blanco | 6 | 47 | 9 |
| Rio Grande | 45 | 36 | 36 |
| Routt | 14 | 26 | 31 |
| County | Land Area |
2000 Pop' |
Elbow Room |
| Saguache | 7 | 48 | 10 |
| San Juan | 60 | 64 | 6 |
| San Miguel | 34 | 44 | 23 |
| Sedgwick | 58 | 57 | 22 |
| Summit | 55 | 21 | 53 |
| Teller | 56 | 22 | 52 |
| Washington | 12 | 50 | 11 |
| Weld | 3 | 8 | 54 |
| Yuma | 15 | 38 | 18 |
The Data Behind The Rankings.
| County | Area Sq Miles |
2000 Population |
People/ Sq Mile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 1,235 | 363,857 | 294.62 |
| Alamosa | 719 | 14,966 | 20.81 |
| Arapahoe | 800 | 487,967 | 609.96 |
| Archuleta | 1,353 | 9,898 | 7.32 |
| Baca | 2,554 | 4,517 | 1.77 |
| Bent | 1,517 | 5,998 | 3.95 |
| Boulder | 742 | 291,288 | 392.57 |
| Broomfield* | 27 | 38,272 | 1,391.71 |
| Chaffe | 1,008 | 16,242 | 16.11 |
| Cheyenne | 1,783 | 2,231 | 1.25 |
| Clear Creek | 396 | 9,322 | 23.54 |
| Conejos | 1,284 | 8,400 | 6.54 |
| Costilla | 1,227 | 3,663 | 2.99 |
| Crowley | 790 | 5,518 | 6.98 |
| Custer | 740 | 3,503 | 4.73 |
| County | Area Sq Miles |
2000 Population |
People/ Sq Mile |
| Delta | 1,141 | 27,834 | 24.39 |
| Denver | 111 | 554,636 | 4,996.72 |
| Dolores | 1,064 | 1,844 | 1.73 |
| Douglas | 841 | 175,766 | 209.00 |
| Eagle | 1,690 | 41,659 | 24.65 |
| Elbert | 1,851 | 19,872 | 10.74 |
| El Paso | 2,129 | 516,929 | 242.80 |
| Fremont | 1,538 | 46,145 | 30.00 |
| Garfield | 2,952 | 43,791 | 14.83 |
| Gilpin | 149 | 4,757 | 31.93 |
| Grand | 1,854 | 12,442 | 6.71 |
| Gunnison | 3,238 | 13,956 | 4.31 |
| Hinsdale | 1,115 | 790 | 0.71 |
| Huerfano | 1,584 | 7,862 | 4.96 |
| County | Area Sq Miles |
2000 Population |
People/ Sq Mile |
| Jackson | 1,614 | 1,577 | 0.98 |
| Jefferson | 768 | 527,056 | 686.27 |
| Kiowa | 1,758 | 1,622 | 0.92 |
| Kit Carson | 2,160 | 8,011 | 3.71 |
| Lake | 379 | 7,812 | 20.61 |
| La Plata | 1,692 | 43,941 | 25.97 |
| Larimer | 2,604 | 251,494 | 96.58 |
| Las Animas | 4,771 | 15,207 | 3.19 |
| Lincoln | 2,586 | 6,087 | 2.35 |
| Logan | 1,818 | 20,504 | 11.28 |
| Mesa | 3,309 | 116,255 | 35.13 |
| Mineral | 877 | 831 | 0.95 |
| Moffat | 4,732 | 13,184 | 2.79 |
| Montezuma | 2,038 | 23,830 | 11.69 |
| Montrose | 2,240 | 33,432 | 14.92 |
| Morgan | 1,278 | 27,171 | 21.26 |
| County | Area Sq Miles |
2000 Population |
People/ Sq Mile |
| Otero | 1,247 | 20,311 | 16.29 |
| Ouray | 542 | 3,742 | 6.90 |
| Park | 2,192 | 14,523 | 6.63 |
| Phillips | 688 | 4,480 | 6.51 |
| Pitkin | 968 | 14,872 | 15.36 |
| Prowers | 1,629 | 14,483 | 8.89 |
| Pueblo | 2,377 | 141,472 | 59.52 |
| Rio Blanco | 3,222 | 5,986 | 1.86 |
| Rio Grande | 913 | 12,413 | 13.60 |
| Routt | 2,367 | 19,690 | 8.32 |
| County | Area Sq Miles |
2000 Population |
People/ Sq Mile |
| Saguache | 3,167 | 5,917 | 1.87 |
| San Juan | 388 | 558 | 1.44 |
| San Miguel | 1,287 | 6,594 | 5.12 |
| Sedgwick | 540 | 2,747 | 5.09 |
| Summit | 607 | 23,548 | 38.79 |
| Teller | 559 | 20,555 | 36.77 |
| Washington | 2,520 | 4,926 | 1.95 |
| Weld | 3,990 | 180,936 | 45.35 |
| Yuma | 2,365 | 9,841 | 4.16 |
| Colorado | 103,597 | 4,301,261 | 41.52 |
Note: The area and 2000 census data for Broomfield are for the incorporated city and not the later City and County.
Donated by Lee Zion ( lzion @ plains.net ) County Coordinator for Yuma and Washington Counties