County Maps US

Chaffee County, Colorado

A county in Colorado, ranked 25 of 64 by population.

CountyFIPS 08015

Within Colorado
Chaffee County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Salida, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
20,831
+1,345 (+6.9%) since 2020
Land area
1,013
square miles. A further 0.2% of the total area is water
Population density
20.6
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Salida
Seat of county government.
Established
1879
146 years ago
Largest city
Salida city
Population 5,985.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Chaffee County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Chaffee County, Colorado from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 718 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Chaffee County ranks

Position among the 64 counties of Colorado, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn ColoradoNationally
Population20,83125th of 641,784th of 3,144
Land area1,013 sq mi43rd of 64664th of 3,144
Population density20.6 per sq mi24th of 642,223rd of 3,144
Median household income$84,13226th of 64448th of 3,143

Full data for Chaffee County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population20,831Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202019,486Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?19,475Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area1,013 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area1,015 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?20.6 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$84,132American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$665,700American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age48.7American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households9,863American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units11,482American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-22
173 births, 195 deaths
Net migration
+56
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Chaffee County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Gunnison CountyColorado73 mi17,439
Park CountyColorado46 mi18,314
Fremont CountyColorado27 mi50,039
Lake CountyColorado21 mi7,552
Saguache CountyColorado16 mi6,732
Pitkin CountyColorado5.2 mi16,625

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 64 counties of Colorado

Open the interactive Colorado county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.