Moffat County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,292. The county seat is Craig. With an area of 4,751 square miles, it is the 2nd largest county by area in Colorado, behind Las Animas County.
Moffat County comprises the Craig, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Steamboat Springs-Craig, CO Combined Statistical Area.
History
Moffat County was created out of the western portion of Routt County on February 27, 1911. The county was named for David H. Moffat, a Colorado tycoon who died in 1911. His railroad, the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific, attempted to build a route from Denver to Salt Lake City. In 1913, a reorganized railroad, the Denver & Salt Lake, reached as far as Craig, the county seat, but no farther. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, all state District Courts were held in Denver, in the State courthouse there, due to a lack of funds to build courthouses locally. All murder trials were held in Denver, in the District Courts.
Allegedly, so many murders occurred between sheep farmers from Wyoming and cattle ranchers from Colorado that the presiding judges—tired of presiding over these murder trials—requested that the State legislature split Routt County into what is now Routt and Moffat counties; the legislature complied.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. It is the second-largest county by area in Colorado.
Adjacent counties
Routt County – east
Rio Blanco County – south
Uintah County, Utah – west
Daggett County, Utah – west
Sweetwater County, Wyoming – north
Carbon County, Wyoming – north
Major highways
U.S. Highway 40
State Highway 13
State Highway 317
State Highway 318
State Highway 394
20px Wyoming Highway 70
National protected areas
Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge
Dinosaur National Monument
Routt National Forest
White River National Forest
Yampa River State Park
Scenic byway
Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway National Scenic Byway
Summit
Cold Spring Mountain
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 13,184 people, 4,983 households, and 3,577 families residing in the county. The population density was 3 people per square mile (1/km2). There were 5,635 housing units at an average density of 1 per square mile (0/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 93.61% White, 0.21% Black or African American, 0.88% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.17% from other races, and 1.77% from two or more races. 9.46% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 4,983 households, out of which 38.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.70% were married couples living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.20% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.50% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 29.90% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 9.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $41,528, and the median income for a family was $45,511. Males had a median income of $37,288 versus $22,080 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,540. About 6.90% of families and 8.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.30% of those under age 18 and 9.30% of those age 65 or over.
Communities
City
Craig
Town
Dinosaur
Census-designated place
Maybell
Other unincorporated places
Blue Mountain
Elk Springs
Greystone
Hamilton
Lay
Loyd
Massadona
Slater
Sunbeam
Politics
Moffat is a Republican county in Presidential elections. No Democratic presidential candidate has carried Moffat County since Lyndon Johnson's 1964 landslide, and indeed no Democrat post-1964 has obtained even forty percent of the county's vote. Moffat was one of fifteen counties (two in Colorado) to give a plurality to Ross Perot in the 1992 election, but every other Republican candidate since 1968 has obtained an absolute majority in Moffat County.
In gubernatorial elections, Moffat County has also generally been Republican, but was nonetheless carried by Democrat Roy Romer by a narrow margin in 1990 – when he carried all but four counties statewide – by Dick Lamm in 1982 and by Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo in 2010. In senatorial elections, the Republican candidate has consistently garnered over sixty percent of Moffat County voters since future party-switcher Ben Nighthorse Campbell won the county for the Democratic Party in 1992.
