Douglas County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the U.S. state of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 357,978. The county is named in honor of U.S. Senator

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (né Douglass; April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. As a United States Senate, U.S. senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party (United States) ...

. The county seat is Castle Rock. Douglas County is part of the Denver metropolitan area. It is located midway between Colorado's two largest cities, Denver and

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

, and contains a portion of Aurora, the state's third-largest city. Douglas County has the highest median household income of any Colorado county or statistical equivalent. It is ranked seventh nationally in that category.

Overview

Douglas County is lightly wooded, mostly with ponderosa pine, with broken terrain characterized by mesas,

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

, and small streams. Cherry Creek and Plum Creek rise in Douglas County and flow north toward Denver and into the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwestern United States, Midwest and the American Sou ...

. Both were subject to flash flooding in the past, Plum Creek being partially responsible for the Denver flood of 1965. Cherry Creek and Plum Creek are now dammed. Most residents commute to workplaces elsewhere in the metropolitan area outside of the county. Suburban development is supplementing the traditional ranching economy of the county.

History

Douglas County was one of the original 17 counties created in the Colorado Territory by the Colorado Territorial Legislature on November 1, 1861. The county was named in honor of U.S. Senator

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, who died five months before the county was created. The county seat was originally Franktown, but was moved to California Ranch in 1863, and then to Castle Rock in 1874. Although the county's boundaries originally extended eastward to the

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

state border, in 1874, most of the eastern portion of the county became part of Elbert County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (0.3%) are covered by water.

Adjacent counties

* Jefferson County, Colorado – west * Arapahoe County, Colorado – north * Elbert County, Colorado – east * El Paso County, Colorado – south *

Teller County, Colorado Teller County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,710. The county seat is Cripple Creek, and the most populous city is Woodland Park. Teller County is included in the Colorado Spr ...

– southwest

Major highways

Interstate 25 Interstate 25 (I-25), also known as the Pan-American Freeway, is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 st ...

U.S. Highway 85 * US 87

U.S. Highway 87 * Colorado 67

State Highway 67 * Colorado 83

State Highway 83 * Colorado 86

State Highway 86 * Colorado 105

State Highway 105 * Colorado 121

State Highway 121 * Colorado 470

State Highway 470 * E-470

E-470 tollway

Parks and recreational areas

Three state parks fall within Douglas County: Castlewood Canyon State Park, Chatfield State Park and Roxborough State Park. Parts of the county lie within the Pike National Forest and were crossed by the historic South Platte Trail. Recreation trails in the county include: * American Discovery Trail * Colorado Trail * Devils Head National Recreation Trail * Highline Canal National Recreation Trail * Platte River Greenway National Recreation Trail * Ridgeline Open Space Trail * Bluffs Regional Park Trail The Rueter–Hess Reservoir, when filled, may provide significant recreation, including fishing, hiking, and nonmotorized boating. If filled to capacity, surface size would be 1,140 acres, making this a fairly significant reservoir in Colorado and Douglas County's largest body of water. Cherokee Ranch and Castle is a 3,400-acre privately owned property which forms a 12,000-acre open space with the Highlands Ranch Backcountry and Daniels Park. The area is host to a variety of animals and the Cherokee Ranch petrified forest. The Prairie Canyon Ranch, at 4620 CO-83, about south of Franktown, is a Douglas County Open Space. It is a working cattle ranch on , open to the public on special events.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, 175,766 people, 60,924 households, and 49,835 families were residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . The 63,333 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the county was 92.77% White, 2.51% Asian, 0.95% African American, 0.41% Native American, 1.49% from other races, and 1.88% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 5.06% of the population. Of the 60,924 households, 47.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.8% were married couples living together, 5.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.2% were not families. About 13.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88, and the average family size was 3.19. In the county, the population distribution was 31.6% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 37.9% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 4.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.4 males. The median income for a household in the county was $82,929, and for a family was $88,482 (these figures had risen to $93,819 and $102,767, respectively, as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $60,729 versus $38,965 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $34,848. About 1.6% of families and 2.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 1.9% of those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over. Douglas County had the highest median household income of any Colorado county or statistical equivalent in 2000. In 2008, it ranked eighth in the United States in that category; it was one of two in the top 15 not in the vicinity of New York or Washington.

Health and longevity

In 2021, Douglas County was judged by the '' U.S. News & World Report'' to be the second healthiest of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents of the United States based on 84 different factors. Residents of the county lived 84.0 years on the average compared to the U.S. average of 77.5 years.

Politics

As a primarily exurban county, Douglas County has long been known as a Republican stronghold. In the 2012 election, Mitt Romney won 62% of the vote. However, Douglas County has become more competitive in recent years, with Donald Trump winning 55% of the county's vote in 2016 and only 52% of the vote in 2020 and 2024. In 2024, Kamala Harris achieved the highest vote share for a Democratic presidential nominee in the county since 1964. In

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, incumbent Democratic governor Jared Polis lost the county by a razor-thin margin, winning nearly 49% of the vote. However, Democratic strength is mostly limited to northern Douglas County, including Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, and Meridian, while the rest of the county is still strongly Republican.

Education

Douglas County is served by Douglas County School District RE-1, which covers the entire county. It is the third-largest school district in Colorado. In addition to traditional neighborhood schools, the district includes sixteen charter schools, four option schools, and a
online school
. Schools are rated generally high in the area.
The University Center at Chaparral
in Parker offers courses through Arapahoe Community College, the University of Colorado Denver, University College of the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

, and the Douglas County School District. The

University of Phoenix University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the Ac ...

has a campus in Lone Tree. The county was home to its own university, the University of Colorado South Denver in Lone Tree, but it permanently closed in 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and financial concerns.

Libraries

The Douglas County Libraries system has seven branches throughout the county. The library also houses the Douglas County History Research Center, which collects and preserves the history of Douglas County, the High Plains, the Divide area of the Front Range and the State of Colorado, to provide historical research resources to the public.

Economy

Top employers

According to the county's 2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the county are:

Recognition

Douglas County has been recognized by a number of national periodicals: * ''Money'' magazine ranked Douglas County number five in the United States for “Job Growth over the Last Eight Years”, August 18, 2009 * ''American City Business Journals'' (ACBJ) ranked Douglas County fourth in the nation for “Quality of Life”, May 2004
''SchoolDigger.com''
ranked Douglas County School District at number one in the Denver metropolitan area and number 12 in Colorado based on 2009 test scores. (School district rankings were determined by averaging the rankings of individual schools within each of the 122 districts evaluated.)

Communities

Cities

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

(part) * Castle Pines * Littleton (part) * Lone Tree

Towns

* Castle Rock * Larkspur * Parker

Census-designated places

* Acres Green * Castle Pines Village * Franktown * Grand View Estates * Highlands Ranch *

Louviers Louviers () is a Communes of France, commune in the Eure Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in north-western France. Louviers is from Paris and from Rouen. Population History Prehistory In th ...

* Meridian * Meridian Village * Perry Park * Roxborough Park * Sedalia * Sierra Ridge * Stepping Stone * Sterling Ranch * Stonegate * The Pinery * Westcreek

Other unincorporated communities

* Dakan * Deckers *

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

Former census-designated places

* Carriage Club (now part of Lone Tree) * Cottonwood (now part of Parker) * Heritage Hills (now part of Lone Tree)