Mesa County, Colorado


Mesa County is one of the 64 counties of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2010 census, the population was 146,723. The county seat is Grand Junction. The county was named for the many large mesas in the area, including Grand Mesa.
Mesa County comprises the Grand Junction, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2011 it ranked as the 269th most populous metropolitan area in the United States. It is the only metropolitan area in Colorado not located on the Front Range of Colorado.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is the fourth-largest county by area in Colorado.

Adjacent counties

As of the census of 2010, there were 146,723 people, 58,095 households, and 38,593 families living in the county. The population density was 44.1 people per square mile. There were 62,644 housing units. Information that follows comes from the 2000 American Factfinder data: The racial makeup of the county was 92.34% White, 0.46% Black or African American, 0.91% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 3.67% from other races, and 1.99% from two or more races. 10.02% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 45,823 households out of which 31.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 9.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.10% were non-families. 25.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the county, the population was spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 26.70% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 15.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $35,864, and the median income for a family was $43,009. Males had a median income of $32,316 versus $22,374 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,715. About 7.00% of families and 10.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.50% of those under age 18 and 8.10% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Mesa is a strongly Republican county. It has voted Democratic only once since 1952, during Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 landslide, and Hubert Humphrey in the following 1968 election is the last Democrat to pass forty percent of the county’s vote.
YearRepublicanDemocraticOthers
201664.1% 49,77928.0% 21,7297.9% 6,146
201265.1% 47,47232.7% 23,8462.2% 1,629
200864.0% 44,57834.5% 24,0081.5% 1,045
200467.1% 41,53931.6% 19,5641.3% 782
200063.5% 32,39630.3% 15,4656.3% 3,193
199653.1% 24,76136.7% 17,11410.2% 4,737
199241.2% 18,16934.4% 15,16224.4% 10,736
198859.6% 22,15038.7% 14,3721.7% 633
198469.7% 23,73629.2% 9,9381.2% 400
198068.9% 22,68622.9% 7,5498.2% 2,681
197665.4% 17,92432.2% 8,8072.4% 659
197268.7% 15,52728.1% 6,3583.2% 728
196849.6% 10,74540.5% 8,7759.9% 2,151
196439.5% 8,31760.3% 12,7160.2% 49
196058.8% 13,01541.0% 9,0720.2% 45
195662.8% 12,86936.9% 7,5670.3% 60
195263.1% 11,88336.5% 6,8830.4% 79
194843.4% 6,58655.3% 8,4011.3% 198
194448.9% 6,65350.5% 6,8700.6% 75
194047.3% 7,04951.6% 7,6941.1% 169
193629.5% 3,65463.1% 7,8247.4% 921
193237.2% 4,38856.6% 6,6826.2% 737
192865.8% 6,44632.9% 3,2231.4% 133
192445.5% 4,05326.8% 2,38827.7% 2,461
192049.8% 3,62143.2% 3,1387.0% 512
191630.1% 2,22359.4% 4,39410.5% 778
191212.5% 97634.9% 2,73352.6% 4,115

Communities

Cities

Major Highways