Jefferson County, Colorado

Jefferson County (Jeffco) is a in the  of Colorado in the United States. As of the, 534,543 people lived there, making it the fourth-most populous county in Colorado. The is Golden, and the most populous city is Lakewood.

Jefferson County is included in the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located along the of the, Jefferson County is adjacent to the state capital of Denver.

In 2010, the center of population of Colorado was located in Jefferson County.

The county's slogan is the "Gateway to the Rocky Mountains", and it is commonly nicknamed Jeffco. The name Jeffco is incorporated in the name of the Jeffco School District, the Jeffco Business Center Metropolitan District No. 1, and several businesses located in Jefferson County. Jeffco is also incorporated in the unofficial monikers of many Jefferson County agencies. The Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport operated by Jefferson County was previously known as the Jeffco Airport.

A major employer in Jefferson County is the large Coors Brewing Company in Golden. Also, the state-supported Colorado School of Mines is located in Jefferson County, offering programs in STEM topics such as, , , and.

History
On August 25, 1855, the created  to govern the entire western portion of the territory. The county was named for the Arapaho Nation of Native Americans that lived in the region.

In June 22, 1850, was discovered along the South Platte River in Arapahoe County (in present-day Englewood). This discovery precipitated the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. Many residents of the mining region felt disconnected from the remote territorial governments of and, so they voted to form their own Territory of Jefferson on October 24, 1859. The following month, the Jefferson Territorial Legislature organized 12 counties for the new territory, including Jefferson County. Jefferson County was named for the namesake of the Jefferson Territory,, the principal author of the and the nation's third. Golden City served as the county seat of Jefferson County. Robert Williamson Steele, of the Provisional Government of the Territory of Jefferson from 1859 to 1861, built his home in the county at Mount Vernon and later at Apex.

The Jefferson Territory never received federal sanction, but during his last week in office,  signed an act which organized the Territory of Colorado on February 28, 1861. That November 1, the new Colorado General Assembly organized the 17 original counties of Colorado, including a new Jefferson County. In 1908, the southern tip of Jefferson County was transferred to Park County, reducing Jefferson County to its present length of 54 miles (87 km). Several annexations by the City & County of Denver and the 2001 consolidation of the City & County of Broomfield removed the east and extreme northwestern portion of the county, respectively.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 774 sqmi, of which 764 sqmi is land and 9.8 sqmi (1.3%) is water.

Adjacent counties
Jefferson County is one of the few counties in the United States to border as many as ten counties.


 * Boulder County - north
 * City and County of Broomfield - northeast
 * Adams County - east
 * City and County of Denver - east
 * Arapahoe County - east
 * Douglas County - east
 * Teller County - south
 * Park County - southwest
 * Clear Creek County - west
 * Gilpin County - northwest

Recreational areas

 * Alderfer/Three Sisters Park
 * Apex Park
 * Bear Creek Lake Park
 * Centennial Cone Park
 * Clear Creek Canyon Park
 * Coal Creek Canyon
 * Deer Creek Canyon Park
 * Fairmount Trail
 * Flying J Ranch Park
 * Hildebrand Ranch Park
 * Hiwan Homestead Museum
 * Lair o' the Bear Park
 * Lewis Meadows Park
 * Lookout Mountain Nature Center
 * Matthews/Winters Park
 * Meyer Ranch Park
 * Mount Falcon Park
 * Mount Galbraith Park
 * Mount Glennon
 * Mount Lindo
 * North Table Mountain Park
 * Pine Valley Ranch Park
 * Ranson/Edwards Homestead Ranch
 * Reynolds Park
 * Sister City Park
 * South Table Mountain Park
 * South Valley Park
 * Standley Lake Regional Park
 * Van Bibber Park
 * Welchester Tree Grant Park
 * White Ranch Park
 * Windy Saddle Park
 * Urban Trails
 * Windy Saddle Park
 * Urban Trails

Demographic data
According to the, the county had 527,056 people. There were 206,067 households and 140,537 families. The was 264 inhabitants per square kilometer. The racial the population was composed of 90.59 percent white, 0.89 percent African American, 0.75 percent Native American, 2.28 percent Asian, 0.08 percent of residents from the Pacific island area and 3.23 percent from other ethnic groups Groups; 2.18 percent were descended from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race was 9.95 percent of the total population.

Of the 206,067 households, 33.4 percent had children and adolescents under the age of 18 living with them. 55.1 percent were married couples living together, 9.1 percent were single mothers. 31.8 percent were not families. 24.5 percent were single households and 6.3 percent had people aged 65 years or over. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.03.

For the entire county, the population was composed of 25.3 percent of residents under 18 years of age, 8.1 percent between 18 and 24 years of age, 32.1 percent between 25 and 44 years of age, 24.9 percent between 45 and 64 years of age 9.6 percent were 65 years of age or over. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 99.0 males, and for every 100 females aged 18 and over there were 96.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $57,339 and the median income for a family was $67,310. Males had a median income of $45,306 versus $32,372 for females. The was $28,066. 5.2 percent of the population and 3.4 percent of families are below the poverty line. This included 5.8 percent of the population under the age of 18 and 5.1 percent of the population aged 65 and over.

In 2019, the median household income of Jefferson County households was $82,986. Jefferson County households made slightly more than Pitkin County households ($78,935) and Summit County households ($79,277). However, 4.2% of Jefferson County families live in poverty.

In November, 1861, Jefferson County was officially recognized as one of Colorado’s original seventeen counties. Today, Jeffco consists of approximately 773 square miles and is the fourth most populated county in the State of Colorado. The County’s total population in 1870 was 2,390 people.

The County’s total population in 1870 was 2,390 people.

State parks

 * Chatfield State Park

National forests and wilderness

 * Pike National Forest
 * Roosevelt National Forest

Historic trail

 * South Platte Trail

Recreational trails

 * American Discovery Trail
 * Apex National Recreation Trail
 * Big Dry Creek National Recreation Trail
 * Platte River Greenway National Recreation Trail
 * Platte River Greenway National Recreation Trail

Golf courses

 * Applewood Golf Course
 * Bear Creek Golf Club
 * Evergreen Golf Course
 * Foothills Golf Course
 * Fossil Trace Golf Course
 * Fox Hollow Golf Course
 * Heritage Golf Course at Westmoor
 * Hiwan Golf Club
 * Homestead Golf Course
 * Indian Tree Golf Club
 * Lake Arbor Golf Course
 * Lakewood Country Club
 * Racoon Creek Golf Course
 * Rolling Hills Country Club

Cities

 * Arvada (part)
 * Edgewater
 * Golden
 * Lakewood
 * Littleton (part)
 * Westminster (part)
 * Wheat Ridge

Towns

 * Bow Mar
 * Lakeside
 * Morrison
 * Mountain View
 * Superior (part)

Census-designated places

 * Applewood
 * Aspen Park
 * Coal Creek (partial)
 * Columbine
 * Dakota Ridge
 * East Pleasant View
 * Evergreen
 * Fairmount
 * Genesee
 * Idledale
 * Indian Hills
 * Ken Caryl
 * Kittredge
 * West Pleasant View

Unincorporated communities

 * Buffalo Creek
 * Conifer
 * Foxton
 * Idledale
 * Pine
 * Pine Junction