Garfield 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 ...

in south central

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 5,083, making it the fifth-least populous county in Utah; with about one inhabitant per square mile, it is also the least densely populated county in Utah. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

and largest city is Panguitch.

History

The

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th st ...

legislature created the county on March 9, 1882, with areas partitioned from Iron County. It was named for James A. Garfield, the twentieth

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

, who had died six months earlier. The border with Iron County was adjusted in 1884, and Garfield County's boundaries have remained intact since then.

Geography

The

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

, flowing southwestward through a deep gorge, forms the eastern boundary. The Dirty Devil River flows southward through the east end of the county to discharge into Colorado at the county's border. Westward, the cliffs of tributary canyons give way to the barren stretches of the San Rafael Desert, beyond which a variety of mountains, plateaus, and canyons make up the terrain. Most of

Bryce Canyon National Park Bryce Canyon National Park () is a national park of the United States located in southwestern Utah. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along ...

lies in the southwestern part of the county, and the northern half of the

Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument The Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (GSENM) is a United States national monument protecting the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the Canyons of the Escalante (Escalante River) in southern Utah. It was established in 19 ...

occupies the middle of the county. A large portion of

Capitol Reef National Park Capitol Reef National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in south-central Utah. The park is approximately long on its northsouth axis and just wide on average. The park was established in ...

lies in the east-central part of the county. A very small part of

Canyonlands National Park Canyonlands National Park is a national park of the United States located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab. The park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green Rive ...

lies in the northeast corner of the county. The terrain of Garfield County is arid, rough, and carved with erosion.''Garfield County UT'' Google Maps (accessed 28 March 2019)
/ref> The county terrain generally slopes to the south and to the east. The county's highest point is Mount Ellen, in the Henry Mountains, near the county's north border, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water. It is the fifth-largest county in Utah by area, and is about the same size as the state of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

Airports

Source: * Bryce Canyon Airport (BCE)

Major highways

Source: * US 89

US Highway 89 * Utah Highway 12 * Utah Highway 22 * Utah Highway 63 * Utah Highway 95 * Utah Highway 143 * Utah Highway 276

Adjacent counties

* Wayne County - northeast * San Juan County - east * Kane County - south * Iron County - west * Beaver County - northwest * Piute County - north

Protected areas

Source: *

(part) *

(part) * Carcass Canyon Wilderness Study Area *

Dixie National Forest Dixie National Forest is a United States National Forest in Utah with headquarters in Cedar City. It occupies almost two million acres (8,000 km2) and stretches for about across southern Utah. The largest national forest in Utah, it ...

(part) * Escalante Petrified Forest State Park *

Fishlake National Forest Fishlake National Forest is a United States National Forest, U.S. National Forest located in south central Utah. The namesake for the forest is Fish Lake (Utah), Fish Lake, the largest freshwater mountain lake in the state. Wildlife Animals tha ...

(part) * Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (part) *

(part) * Mammoth Cave (US Forest Service)

Lakes

Source: *

Lake Powell Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It holds of water when full, second in the United States to only the ...

(part) * Panguitch Lake * Wide Hollow Reservoir

Demographics

2020 census

According to the 2020 United States census and 2020 American Community Survey, there were 5,083 people in Garfield County with a

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 ...

of 1.0 people per square mile (0.4/km²). Among non- Hispanic or Latino people, the racial makeup was 4,446 (87.5%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 5 (0.1%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 90 (1.8%) Native American, 30 (0.6%) Asian, 7 (0.1%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 3 (0.1%) from other races, and 118 (2.3%) from two or more races. 384 (7.6%) people were Hispanic or Latino. There were 2,619 (51.52%) males and 2,464 (48.48%) females, and the population distribution by age was 1,202 (23.6%) under the age of 18, 2,682 (52.8%) from 18 to 64, and 1,199 (23.6%) who were at least 65 years old. The median age was 43.3 years. There were 1,881 households in Garfield County with an average size of 2.70 of which 1,323 (70.3%) were families and 558 (29.7%) were non-families. Among all families, 1,100 (58.5%) were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

, 83 (4.4%) were male householders with no spouse, and 140 (7.4%) were female householders with no spouse. Among all non-families, 479 (25.5%) were a single person living alone and 79 (4.2%) were two or more people living together. 528 (28.1%) of all households had children under the age of 18. 1,504 (80.0%) of households were owner-occupied while 377 (20.0%) were renter-occupied. The median income for a Garfield County household was $44,279 and the median family income was $65,266, with a

per-capita income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...

of $23,926. The median income for males that were full-time employees was $49,904 and for females $34,773. 16.4% of the population and 11.3% of families 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 ...

. In terms of education attainment, out of the 3,484 people in Garfield County 25 years or older, 221 (6.3%) had not completed high school, 1,067 (30.6%) had a

high school diploma A high school diploma (sometimes referred to as a high school degree) is a diploma awarded upon graduation of high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary s ...

or equivalency, 1,312 (37.7%) had some college or

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

, 648 (18.6%) had a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

, and 236 (6.8%) had a graduate or

professional degree A professional degree, formerly known in the US as a first professional degree, is a degree that prepares someone to work in a particular profession, practice, or industry sector often meeting the academic requirements for licensure or accreditatio ...

Ancestry

the largest self-identified ancestry groups in Garfield County are: * English - 46.2% * German - 14.8% * Irish - 10.1% * Danish - 6.6% * Scottish - 4.9% * Welsh - 3.9% * Scotch-Irish - 2.5% * Swedish - 2.3% * Norwegian - 2.2%

Politics and government

Garfield County has traditionally voted Republican. In no national election since 1936 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

Communities

Source:

Cities

* Escalante * Panguitch (county seat)

Towns

Antimony Antimony is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Sb () and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...

* Bryce Canyon City *

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

* Cannonville * Hatch * Henrieville * Tropic

Unincorporated communities

* Hillsdale * Ticaboo * Widtsoe

Education

All portions of the county are in the Garfield School District.
Text list
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1882 establishments in Utah Territory States and territories established in 1882