El Paso County, Colorado

El Paso County
El Paso County
County
	El Paso County Justice Center
	Flag Seal
	Location within the U.S. state of Colorado
	Colorado's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 38°50′N 104°31′W / 38.84°N 104.52°W
Country	United States
State	Colorado
Founded	November 1, 1861
Named for	Spanish name for The Pass
Seat	Colorado Springs
Largest city	Colorado Springs
Area
• Total	2,130 sq mi (5,500 km2)
• Land	2,127 sq mi (5,510 km2)
• Water	2.7 sq mi (7 km2) 0.1%
Population (2020)
• Total	730,395
• Estimate (2023)	744,215
• Density	340/sq mi (130/km2)
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
Congressional districts	4th, 5th
Website	www.elpasoco.com

El Paso County is the most populous county located in the American state of Colorado. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 730,395,^[1] surpassing the City and County of Denver. The county seat is Colorado Springs,^[2] the second most populous city in Colorado. El Paso County is included in the Colorado Springs, Colorado, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

In July 1858, gold was discovered along the South Platte River in Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory. This discovery precipitated the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. Many residents of the mining region felt disconnected from the remote territorial governments of Kansas and Nebraska, 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 El Paso County. El Paso County was named for the Spanish language name for Ute Pass north of Pikes Peak. Colorado City served as the county seat of El Paso County.

The Jefferson Territory never received federal sanction, but on February 28, 1861, U.S. President James Buchanan signed an act organizing the Territory of Colorado.^[3] El Paso County was one of the original 17 counties created by the Colorado legislature on November 1, 1861. Part of its western territory was broken off to create Teller County in 1899. Originally based in Old Colorado City (now part of Colorado Springs, not today's Colorado City between Pueblo and Walsenburg), El Paso County's county seat was moved to Colorado Springs in 1873.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,130 square miles (5,500 km²), of which 2,127 square miles (5,510 km²) are land and 2.7 square miles (7.0 km²) (0.1%) are covered by water.^[4]

Historic sites

Trails

American Discovery Trail
Barr National Recreation Trail
Bear Creek Cañon Park
Bear Creek Regional Park and Nature Center
Calhan Paint Mines
Fountain Creek Nature Center
The Incline
New Santa Fe Trail
Pikes Peak Greenway
White House Ranch National Recreation Trail

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1870	987		—
1880	7,949		705.4%
1890	21,239		167.2%
1900	31,602		48.8%
1910	43,321		37.1%
1920	44,027		1.6%
1930	49,570		12.6%
1940	54,025		9.0%
1950	74,523		37.9%
1960	143,742		92.9%
1970	235,972		64.2%
1980	309,424		31.1%
1990	397,014		28.3%
2000	516,929		30.2%
2010	622,263		20.4%
2020	730,395		17.4%
2023 (est.)	744,215	^[5]	1.9%
U.S. Decennial Census^[6] 1790–1960^[7] 1900–1990^[8] 1990–2000^[9] 2010-2020^[1]

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 730,395 people, 272,683 households, and 185,830 families residing in the county.^[10] The population density was 343.5 people per square mile (132.6 people/km²). There were 287,459 housing units. The racial makeup of the county was 82.6% White, 6.9% Black or African American, 1.4% Native American, 3.4% Asian, 0.4% Pacific Islander, and 5.4% from two or more races. About 18.9% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Education

K-12 Education

El Paso County is home to 17 public school districts, in addition to several private schools. In the 2023–2024 school year, Cheyenne Mountain School District 12 in Colorado Springs was ranked the #1 public school district in Colorado. Academy School District 20 (Colorado Springs) and Lewis-Palmer School District 38 (Monument) were ranked #8 and #10, respectively.^[11]

Higher Education

El Paso County is home to several colleges and universities. The United States Air Force Academy is located immediately north of Colorado Springs, serving as both a university and a functional U.S. Air Force base. Also in the county are the University of Colorado–Colorado Springs, Colorado College, Pikes Peak State College, Colorado Technical University, and IntelliTec College, all located in Colorado Springs.

Government

El Paso County is located in Colorado's 5th congressional district, except for the far eastern extremities, which are located in the 4th. The county is governed by a board of county commissioners. Its current members are Holly Williams in district 1, Carrie Geitner in district 2, Stan VanderWerf in district 3, Longinos Gonzales Jr in district 4, and Cami Bremer in district 5.

In 2004, the voters of Colorado Springs and El Paso County established the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) and adopted a 1% sales tax dedicated to improving the region's transportation infrastructure. Together with state funding for COSMIX (2007 completion) and the I-25 interchange with Highway 16 (2008 completion), significant progress has been made since 2003 in addressing the transportation needs of the area. In 2012, the county voted to legalize marijuana.^[12] On March 12, 2019, the county commissioners unanimously passed a resolution to become a Second Amendment sanctuary.^[13]

The Colorado Department of Corrections has its headquarters in an unincorporated area in the county.^[14]^[15]

Elected Officials

Position	Elected Official
County Commissioner District 1	Holly Williams
County Commissioner District 2	Carrie Geitner
County Commissioner District 3	Stan VanderWerf
County Commissioner District 4	Longinos Gonzalez Jr.
County Commissioner District 5	Cami Bremer
County Assessor	Mark Flutcher
County Clerk and Recorder	Steve Schleiker
County Coroner	Leon Kelly
District Attorney	Michael Allen
County Sheriff	Sheriff Joseph Roybal
County Surveyor	Richard Mariotti
County Treasurer	Chuck Broerman

Top employers

According to the City's 2022 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,^[16] the largest employers in the county are:

#	Employer	# of Employees	Percentage
1	Fort Carson	36,000	9.35%
2	Peterson Space Force Base	10,650	2.77%
3	Schriever Space Force Base	8,000	2.08%
4	United States Air Force Academy	7,650	1.99%
5	UCHealth Memorial Health Services	6,000	1.56%
6	The Charter Spectrum West Region	4,900	1.27%
7	Amazon	4,800	1.25%
8	Penrose Hospital	3,560	0.92%
9	Colorado Springs School District 11	3,300	0.86%
10	Academy School District 20	3,150	0.82%
	Total	88,010	22.87%

Libraries

The Pikes Peak Library District provides library services through its 15 branches and bookmobiles to the residents of El Paso County, with the exception of Widefield School District 3. The mission of the District is "Providing resources and opportunities that impact individual lives and build community. Seek. Engage. Transform."^[17]

Politics

United States presidential election results for El Paso County, Colorado^[18]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	202,828	53.54%	161,941	42.75%	14,082	3.72%
2016	179,228	56.19%	108,010	33.86%	31,730	9.95%
2012	170,952	58.91%	111,819	38.54%	7,404	2.55%
2008	160,318	58.69%	108,899	39.86%	3,958	1.45%
2004	161,361	66.74%	77,648	32.11%	2,779	1.15%
2000	128,294	63.91%	61,799	30.78%	10,664	5.31%
1996	102,403	59.04%	55,822	32.19%	15,216	8.77%
1992	86,044	51.47%	45,827	27.41%	35,298	21.12%
1988	96,965	70.03%	39,995	28.88%	1,506	1.09%
1984	88,377	75.04%	28,185	23.93%	1,210	1.03%
1980	66,199	63.66%	27,463	26.41%	10,328	9.93%
1976	50,929	59.13%	32,911	38.21%	2,290	2.66%
1972	53,892	69.11%	21,234	27.23%	2,859	3.67%
1968	32,066	53.75%	21,232	35.59%	6,357	10.66%
1964	23,822	45.98%	27,844	53.75%	141	0.27%
1960	31,625	64.93%	17,018	34.94%	61	0.13%
1956	27,282	58.46%	18,879	40.46%	505	1.08%
1952	25,272	68.71%	11,203	30.46%	303	0.82%
1948	15,705	55.26%	12,291	43.25%	423	1.49%
1944	16,392	58.16%	11,679	41.44%	115	0.41%
1940	16,766	55.31%	13,320	43.94%	229	0.76%
1936	10,965	39.82%	15,652	56.84%	920	3.34%
1932	12,017	49.35%	11,353	46.62%	980	4.02%
1928	16,243	75.28%	5,069	23.49%	266	1.23%
1924	10,215	55.69%	4,140	22.57%	3,989	21.75%
1920	9,535	62.78%	5,073	33.40%	581	3.83%
1916	7,159	43.55%	8,381	50.99%	897	5.46%
1912	2,816	18.72%	5,559	36.95%	6,671	44.34%
1908	8,022	53.25%	5,995	39.79%	1,048	6.96%
1904	9,589	62.07%	5,281	34.18%	579	3.75%
1900	7,755	53.76%	6,230	43.19%	439	3.04%
1896	6,248	25.75%	17,672	72.84%	340	1.40%
1892	2,657	47.39%	0	0.00%	2,950	52.61%
1888	2,164	60.58%	1,281	35.86%	127	3.56%
1884	1,209	65.71%	534	29.02%	97	5.27%
1880	1,151	65.36%	580	32.94%	30	1.70%

El Paso is quite conservative for a large urban county, although it has become less so since the 2010s. Its conservative bent predates the influence of its large military and Evangelical Christian populations. Since its creation in 1871, El Paso County has typically voted for the Republican presidential candidate in presidential elections; the last Democratic nominee to win the county was Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Even then, Barry Goldwater got nearly 46% of the county's vote. It has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1920, except for the Democratic landslides of 1936 and 1964.

Dick Lamm in 1982 remains the last Democrat to win the county in a gubernatorial election. Eight years later, the county was one of only four in the state to back governor Roy Romer's opponent John Andrews.^[19]^[20] Jared Polis in 2022 came within 4% of winning the county. The last Democrat to win the county in a Senate election was Gary Hart in 1974.^[21]

Military installations

El Paso County is home to Army, Air Force and Space Force bases. These military installations border Colorado Springs to the north, south, and east, aside from Schriever Space Force Base, which is located about 10 miles east of Peterson Space Force Base.^[22]^{[circular reference]}

Fort Carson

Fort Carson, "The Mountain Post", is located just south of Colorado Springs at the base of the Rocky Mountains. It was established in 1942, following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The city of Colorado Springs purchased land south of the city and donated it to the War Department. Construction began immediately and the first building, the camp headquarters, was completed January 31, 1942. Camp Carson was named in honor of the legendary Army scout Gen. Christopher "Kit" Carson, who explored much of the West in the 1800s. Camp Carson became Fort Carson in 1954. An additional training area was purchased in September 1983 and is called Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS).

Currently, Fort Carson is the home of 4th Infantry Division and several other units, including 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), the Colorado National Guard Regional Training Institute and PCMS, which is a maneuver training site for Fort Carson located near Trinidad, Colorado. The installation totals about 137,000 acres and PCMS is roughly 236,000 acres. Fort Carson has around 3,000 family housing units and 66 soldier barracks with 8,132 rooms. Services on the installation include four elementary schools, one middle school, a commissary, an exchange, and Evans Army Community Hospital, as well as Army Community Service facilities to include child development centers and youth centers and family morale, welfare, and recreation facilities to include a bowling alley, golf course, and numerous parks.

Fort Carson's economic impact on Colorado Springs and the surrounding communities was approximately $2.3 billion during fiscal year 2014. Fort Carson has about 24,300 soldiers on the installation, with 44,700 family members. The installation also has around 8,000 veterans and 3,300 civilians.^[23]

Peterson Space Force Base

AFSPC Headquarters, Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs.

The Space Force has critical aspects of their service based at Colorado Springs, which carry on missile defense operations and development. The Space Force bases a large section of its national missile defense operations here, with Peterson Space Force Base set to operate large sections of the program. The base is also home to Space Force's Space Operations Command, and to NORAD headquarters. Peterson SFB is currently the headquarters of the operations-half of Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Strategic Command.^{[citation needed]}

Peterson is also headquarters for the United States Northern Command, one of the Unified Combatant Commands, which directs all branches of the U.S. military operations in their area of responsibility, which includes the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, and Mexico. In the event of national emergencies, the President or Secretary of Defense can call upon the command for any required military assistance. Service members from every branch of the US military are stationed at the command.^{[citation needed]}

Peterson SFB is the current, possibly temporary home for US Space Command, another Unified Combatant Command, whose area of operations is global operations occurring 50 miles or greater above the Earth.

Schriever Space Force Base (formerly Schriever AFB and Falcon AFB)

Schriever Space Force Base is home to several Space Force mission Deltas, responsible for the operation and support of 175 Department of Defense satellites and installation support to 16 major tenant units, with a workforce of more than 7,700 personnel.^[24] It is the location of the Global Positioning System (GPS) master control station and GPS Operations Center^[25] and the US Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock,^[26] used to synchronize GPS satellite time. Schriever is also developing parts of national missile defense and runs parts of the annual wargames used by the nation's military.^{[citation needed]} The base indirectly contributes an estimated $1 billion to the local Colorado Springs, CO area annually.^[27]

United States Air Force Academy

Bordering the northwestern side of the city are the grounds of the United States Air Force Academy, where cadets train to become officers in the Air Force and Space Force. The campus is famous for its unique chapel, and draws visitors year round. Most of the Air Force Academy's sports programs participate in the Mountain West Conference.^[28]

Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station (formerly Air Force Station)

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), headquartered on Peterson SFB, has a presence in Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station. When it was built at the height of the Cold War, NORAD caused some anxiety for the residents in and around Colorado Springs, who believed the installation would be a primary target during a nuclear attack. Although NORAD still operates today, it is primarily given the task of the tracking of ICBMs, and the military has recently decided to place Cheyenne Mountain's NORAD/NORTHCOM operations on warm standby and move operations to nearby Peterson Air Force Base.^[29]