county

Chaffee County, CO

Demographic and economic profile of Chaffee County, CO, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Chaffee County is a small, recreation-adjacent mountain community of roughly 19,900 residents with a median age of 48.7 years and a labor force participation rate of 55.4%, reflecting its older, partially retired population. The workforce is relatively well-educated—45.4% hold a bachelor's degree or higher—though median worker earnings stand at $40,471 against a median home value of $598,500, pointing to a notable affordability gap. The county grew 3.7% over five years, has a low foreign-born share of 2.8%, and a 74.1% homeownership rate, while unemployment sits at 5.2%.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

19,876

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$84,132

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

48.7 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+3.7% since 2018

Chaffee County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone17,618 (87.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race997 (4.9%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races666 (3.3%)
  • Some Other Race Alone431 (2.1%)
  • Black or African American Alone262 (1.3%)
  • Asian Alone108 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish657
  2. 2.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic112
  3. 3.Korean76
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)70
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic68

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

14.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

59.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

25.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,145

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$48,237

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$43,357

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

10.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance2,482
  2. 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services1,251
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,178
  4. 4.Construction (Group)1,169
  5. 5.Retail Trade (Group)671

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations5,138
  2. 2.Service Occupations1,415
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations1,364
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,030
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations428

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 2.05×)1,633
  2. 2.Construction (LQ 1.59×)1,000
  3. 3.Public Administration (LQ 1.25×)539
  4. 4.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.03×)149
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 0.98×)420

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$598,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,514/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

74.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $500,000 to $749,9992,737 (37.4%)
  • $750,000 to $999,9991,544 (21.1%)
  • $1,000,000 to $1,499,999900 (12.3%)
  • $400,000 to $499,999730 (10.0%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999486 (6.6%)
  • $1,500,000 to $1,999,999210 (2.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

45.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

94.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

55.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$40,471

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

18.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

2.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone5,474 (59.6%)
  • Worked At Home2,254 (24.5%)
  • Carpooled684 (7.4%)
  • Bicycle378 (4.1%)
  • Walked317 (3.5%)
  • Other66 (0.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.