Jury Pool Profile
Chaffee County, Colorado
- County seat
- Salida
- Judicial district
- 11th Judicial District Court
- Population (July 2025 estimate)
- 20,831
- Census PEP. The five-year ACS survey average is 20,178.
At a glance
Chaffee County is a 20,831-person venue. The county population is 87% White (Census race-alone categories). Median household income is $89,591, $7,280 below the CO state median of $96,871; 47.0% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher. 5.2% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, most commonly Spanish. The largest employment sector is Leisure & hospitality, at 23.8% of covered employment, average pay $31,891/year. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 3.38%, below the 3.87% state average. The county has not voted for the same party across the 2016, 2020, and 2024 cycles . See Section 3 for cycle-by-cycle breakdowns.
- Population
- 20,178
- Median household income
- $84,132
- Unemployment
- 3.4%
Who sits on a jury?
≥70% White (race-alone) and <20% Black. This county: 87% / 1%.
Chaffee County has a population of 20,178, with a median age of 48.7. By Census race-alone categories, White residents make up 87.3%; Black residents 1.3%. Independently, 9.8% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino of any race.
The median household earns $89,591; 47.0% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher; 9.6% live below the federal poverty line.
Economic context
Largest sector in BLS QCEW, even counting every withheld job toward the other sectors: Leisure & hospitality, about 24% of covered jobs.
Leisure & hospitality is the largest employment sector at 23.8% of covered employment, followed by Education & health services at 19.3%. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 3.38%, below the Colorado state average.
Political composition
Different parties won across the 2016, 2020, and 2024 cycles.
Chaffee County was carried by the Democratic candidate with 55.4% of the vote in 2024; the Democratic candidate with 52.2% of the vote in 2020; the Republican candidate with 48.0% of the vote in 2016.
Languages, households, faith & health
Family households are 62% of all households (thresholds: ≥70% = 'family-dominant'; 50–70% = 'family-majority'; <50% = 'singles/nonfamily-majority'). 5.2% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home (threshold for 'linguistically diverse' is ≥10%).
5.2% of residents 5 years and older speak a language other than English at home. The most common are Spanish, Russian, Polish, or other Slavic, German or other West Germanic. Veterans account for 6.6% of the adult civilian population (1,145 individuals).