Clear Creek, ca. 1870Crystalline gold specimen from the Dixie mine, Lamartine District, SW ofIdaho Springs, Colorado. Size: 1.8 x 0.9 x 0.2 cm.[3]
Clear Creek County was one of the original 17 counties created by the Colorado legislature on November 1, 1861,[4] and is one of only two counties (along withGilpin) to have persisted with its original boundaries unchanged. It was named afterClear Creek, which runs down from the continental divide through the county.Idaho Springs was originally designated the county seat, but the county government was moved toGeorgetown in 1867.[4]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 396 square miles (1,030 km2), of which 395 square miles (1,020 km2) is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2) (0.3%) is water.[5]
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 9,397. Of the residents, 14.7% were under the age of 18 and 21.2% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 48.3 years. For every 100 females there were 113.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 113.0 males. 0.0% of residents lived in urban areas and 100.0% lived in rural areas.[11][12][13]
Clear Creek 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 4,391 households in the county, of which 20.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 19.2% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[12]
There were 5,672 housing units, of which 22.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 75.2% were owner-occupied and 24.8% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.6%.[12]
At the2000 census there were 9,322 people, 4,019 households, and 2,608 families living in the county. The population density was 24 people per square mile (9.3 people/km2). There were 5,128 housing units at an average density of 13 units per square mile (5.0 units/km2). Theracial makeup of the county was 96.37% White, 0.28% Black or African American, 0.73% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.02% from other races, and 1.20% from two or more races. 3.87% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.[17]Of the 4,019 households 28.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.60% were married couples living together, 6.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.10% were non-families. 27.20% of households were one person and 4.30% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.81.
The age distribution was 22.60% under the age of 18, 5.60% from 18 to 24, 32.60% from 25 to 44, 32.20% from 45 to 64, and 7.10% 65 or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.20 males.
The median household income was $50,997 and the median family income was $61,400. Males had a median income of $41,667 versus $30,757 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,160. About 3.00% of families and 5.40% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 6.80% of those under age 18 and 5.60% of those age 65 or over
Throughout its history, Clear Creek County tended to be somewhat divided betweenRepublicans andDemocrats, but has reliably voted Democratic in recent elections, withGeorge W. Bush having been the most recent Republican to win the county, in 2000, while his father,George H. W. Bush, was the last Republican to win the narrow majority of the county's votes, in 1988. In 2008, Barack Obama won the county with the best performance by a Democrat since 1964. During the2016 presidential election,Hillary Clinton became the first Democrat since her husband in 1996 to not win the majority of the county's vote, while still winning the county by a plurality. Since then, the county has decisively swung further into the Democratic column, and in 2024 it saw a continued leftward shift, opposite of the national average.
United States presidential election results for Clear Creek County, Colorado[18]
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