San Juan County is a county located in the U.S. state ofColorado. As of the2020 census, the population was 705,[1] making it theleast populous county in Colorado. Thecounty seat and the onlyincorporated municipality in the county isSilverton.[2] The county name is the Spanish language name for "Saint John", the name Spanish explorers gave to a river and the mountain range in the area. With a mean elevation of 11,240 feet (3,430 meters), San Juan County is the highest county in the United States and also has the two highest elevation houses in the United States; the ‘Bonnie Belle’ above Animas Forks at 11,900’ – 11,950’ elevation and an unnamed house above Picayune Gulch at 12,000’ elevation.
Long before European settlement, the area was regularly explored by theAnasazi, and later theUtes, who hunted and lived in the San Juans during the summer.[3] There is also speculation that Spanish explorers and fur traders ventured into the area in the 1600s and 1700s.[3]
Permanent settlement in the area surrounding present-day San Juan County began in 1860, near the end of theColorado Gold Rush. These first settlers were a group of prospectors led by Charles Baker, who made their way into the San Juan Mountains searching for gold.[4]
The region boomed after George Howard and R. J. McNutt discovered the Sunnyside silver vein along Hurricane Peak, outside the mining camp of Eureka. Gold was then discovered in 1882, which helped the county weather thePanic of 1893 far better than other mining communities, such as Aspen orCreede.[4] TheSunnyside Mine would become one of Colorado's longest running and most productive mines.[6]
The Sunnyside mine was shut down after the1929 stock market crash, but was acquired by Standard Metals Corp. in 1959, and reopened, finding gold in 1973 with the Little Mary vein. The county's economy was dealt a devastating blow in 1992 when the mine and the corresponding Shenandoah-Dives mill, the last operating in the region, permanently closed.[9][6] The closure meant the end of jobs for over one third of the county's workforce.[9]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 388 square miles (1,000 km2), of which 387 square miles (1,000 km2) is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2) (0.2%) is water.[10] It is the fifth-smallest county in Colorado by area. The county is located in the heart of theSan Juan Mountains of Colorado. Though it has the highest mean elevation of any county in the United States, at 11,240 feet (3,430 m), none of Colorado's53fourteeners (mountains at least 14,000 feet in elevation) are in San Juan County.[11]
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 705. Of the residents, 14.9% were under the age of 18 and 23.4% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 47.5 years. For every 100 females there were 116.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 115.1 males. 0.0% of residents lived in urban areas and 100.0% lived in rural areas.[17][18][19]
San Juan 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 369 households in the county, of which 22.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 20.3% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 39.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[18]
There were 779 housing units, of which 52.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 61.5% were owner-occupied and 38.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 33.6%.[18]
As of the census of 2000, there were 558 people, 269 households, and 157 families residing in the county. The population density was one person per square mile (0.39 person/km2). There were 632 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (0.77/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 97.13%White, 0.72%Native American, 0.18%Asian, 0.36%Pacific Islander, 0.72% fromother races, and 0.90% from two or more races. 7.35% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race.
There were 269 households, out of which 23.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.90% were married couples living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.30% were non-families. 36.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.63.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 20.10% under the age of 18, 4.30% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 40.50% from 45 to 64, and 7.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.40 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $30,764, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $30,588 versus $19,545 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,584. About 13.50% of families and 20.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.40% of those under age 18 and 7.10% of those age 65 or over.
San Juan county is the only county outsideAlaska where walking is the most common form of commute to work. As of 2013, 33% of residents walked to work, 18% drove alone, 19% carpooled, and 18% bicycled, though the small population size introduces considerable margins of error to these statistics.[23]
As of November 2006, the one and only local school had 53 students in grades K–12.
In the era ofWilliam Jennings Bryan, San Juan County strongly favored the Democratic Party: no Republican managed to carry the county between 1892 and 1916, and it was even one of the few northern or western counties to vote forAlton B. Parker in 1904. It remained a Democratic-leaning county until the 1960s but then turned towards the Republican Party in subsequent decades. No Democratic presidential nominee won San Juan County between 1968 and 2000, although it was one of fifteen rural or remote counties to give a plurality toRoss Perot in 1992. SinceJohn Kerry carried the county for his party for the first time in four decades at the 2004 election, San Juan County has voted Democratic at the last five Presidential elections. After 2016, the county shifted even more heavily Democratic than before, with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris each subsequently receiving the highest percentage of the vote for Democrats since the 1964 Democratic national landslide.
United States presidential election results for San Juan County, Colorado[24]
