Eagle County was created by the Colorado legislature on February 11, 1883, from portions ofSummit County. It was named after theEagle River, which runs through the county. The county seat was originally set inRed Cliff,Colorado, but was moved to the town of Eagle in 1921.
The Ground Hog Mine, near Red Cliff, produced gold and silver in two vertical veins in 1887. One vein, or "chimney", contained gold in crystalline form, cemented by iron, while the other contained wire gold in the form of "ram's horns". One of these ram's horns is now on display in theHarvard Mineralogical Museum.[3]: 59
The highest elevation in the county is theMount of the Holy Cross which rises to 14,011 feet (4,271 m) above sea level. The lowest elevation is on theColorado River at 6,128 feet (1,868 m).[4]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,692 square miles (4,380 km2), of which 1,685 square miles (4,360 km2) is land and 7.3 square miles (19 km2) (0.4%) is water.[5]
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 55,731. Of the residents, 22.4% were under the age of 18 and 11.6% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 37.6 years. For every 100 females there were 109.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 109.3 males. 81.5% of residents lived in urban areas and 18.5% lived in rural areas.[11][12][13]
Eagle County, Colorado – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
There were 20,760 households in the county, of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 19.2% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[12]
There were 32,967 housing units, of which 37.0% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 64.9% were owner-occupied and 35.1% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.9%.[12]
As of thecensus[17] of 2000, there were 41,659 people, 15,148 households, and 9,013 families living in the county. Thepopulation density was 25 people per square mile (9.7 people/km2). There were 22,111 housing units at an average density of 13 units per square mile (5.0 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 85.4%White, 0.3%Black orAfrican American, 0.7%Native American, 0.8%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 10.8% fromother races, and 1.9% from two or more races. 23.2% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race.
There were 15,148 households, out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% weremarried couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.5% were non-families. 20.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 11.4% from 18 to 24, 42.1% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 3.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 121.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 125.80 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $62,682, and the median income for a family was $68,226. Males had a median income of $37,603 versus $30,579 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $32,011. About 3.9% of families and 7.8% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 6.8% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.
Eagle County is served by Eagle County School District RE-50J. The district operates eight elementary schools, three middle schools, and three high schools across Eagle County.
According to a report inJAMA, residents of Eagle County had a life expectancy from birth of 85.94 years in 2014, the third-longest in the United States.[18] Men live 84.4 years on the average and women live 87.6 years.[19] Two contiguous counties,Summit andPitkin counties, rank numbers one and two in the nation in life expectancy.
Factors contributing to the high life expectancy of the three Colorado counties are "high education, high income, high access to medical care, the people are physically active, obesity is lower than anywhere else – so you're doing it right." said Ali Mokdad, one of the study's co-authors.[20]
A swing county for much of the 20th Century, Eagle County trended Republican by the 1950s, and up through 1988 it was carried by a Democrat only in the national landslide 1964 election. Democrat Bill Clinton carried the county in both 1992 and 1996, before George W. Bush managed to narrowly flip it back Republican in 2000 (all by pluralities). Since then, the county has swung heavily to the Democratic Party. John Kerry in 2004 won the first full Democratic majority since 1964. Barack Obama performed even better in 2008, and Joe Biden improved the Democratic score yet again in 2020.
United States presidential election results for Eagle County, Colorado[21][22]
