Grand Junction is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the largest city in Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction's population was 65,560 at the 2020 United States census, making it the most populous city in western Colorado and the 17th most populous Colorado municipality overall.
As western Colorado's largest city, Grand Junction is the economic and cultural center of the Western Slope region. The city is a transportation hub, situated at the convergence of Interstate 70, U.S. Highway 50 and U.S. Highway 6. Grand Junction is also home to Colorado Mesa University, enrolling nearly 10,000 students annually.
The city is the anchor of the Grand Junction metropolitan area, home to over 162,000 residents as of 2025. It is located in the heart of the Grand Valley, a large Colorado River valley stretching over east-to-west and north-to-south. Grand Junction comprises the largest urban center between Denver and Salt Lake City, as well as the most densely populated area and the only metropolitan area in Colorado outside of the Front Range Urban Corridor.
Description
Grand Junction is west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. The city has a council–manager form of government. It is a major commercial and transportation hub within the large area between the Green River and the Continental Divide, and the largest city in Colorado outside of the Front Range Corridor.
The city is along the Colorado River, at its confluence with the Gunnison River, which comes in from the south. "Grand" refers to the historical Grand River, renamed the Upper Colorado River in 1921. "Junction" refers to the confluence of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers. Grand Junction has been nicknamed "River City". It is near the midpoint of a arcing valley, known as the Grand Valley; since the late 19th century it has been a major fruit-growing region. The valley was long occupied by the Ute people and earlier indigenous cultures. It was not settled by European-American farmers until the 1880s. Since the late 20th century, several wineries have been established in the area.
The Colorado National Monument, a unique series of canyons and mesas, overlooks the city on the west. Most of the area is surrounded by federal public lands managed by the US Bureau of Land Management. Interstate 70 connects the city eastward to Glenwood Springs and Denver and westward to Green River, Utah; Salt Lake City is reached to the west via Interstate 70 and U.S Route 6, and Las Vegas via Interstate 70 and Interstate 15.
History In September 1881, the former Ute Indian Territory was abolished and the Utes were forced into a reservation so that the U.S. government could open the area to settlers. Clinton County, Pennsylvania-born George Addison Crawford (1827–91) soon purchased a plot of land. On July 22, 1882, he incorporated the town of Grand Junction and planted Colorado's first vineyard near Palisade, Colorado, causing the area to become known as the Colorado Wine Country.
Grand Junction also has a storied past with gunfighters, miners, and early settlers of the American Southwest. Prior to its incorporation as the city of Grand Junction, the community was known as Ute, and was also briefly called West Denver.
The narrow gauge Denver and Rio Grande Railroad reached Grand Junction from the southeast, from Pueblo via Gunnison in 1882, followed in 1890 by the standard gauge Rio Grande Junction Railway from the northeast, from New Castle (jointly owned by the D&RG and the Colorado Midland).Beebe, Lucius and Clegg, Charles, Rio Grande, Mainline of the Rockies, Howell-North Books 1962. These greatly contributed to the expansion and settlement of the area.
Geography At the 2020 United States census, the city had a total area of (40.077 sq mi), including (.443 sq mi) of water.
Climate Grand Junction has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk). It sits in a large area of high desert lands in Western Colorado. Winters are cold and dry, with a January mean temperature of . Due to its location west of the Rockies, Grand Junction does not receive as much influence from the Chinook winds as locations in Colorado east of the Front Range, yet it does receive protection from the Arctic air masses that can settle to the east of the Rockies. This is illustrated by the fact that from December to February, highs reach only 18 days. Lows drop to or below on 2.9 nights per year. Snowfall is low compared to much of the rest of the state, averaging per season; only once in the entire period of record dating to 1893, has observed in a calendar day, though the median is , and moreover, snow cover is intermittent. Snow is greatest in December and January. Spring warming is gradual but quickens when nearing June; the average last freeze date is April 25. Summer is hot and dry, with a July mean temperature of . Grand Junction averages 68 days a year with temperatures at or above, and an average 8 days attaining or more. Autumn cooling is rapid, with the average first freeze date being October 11. The area receives little precipitation year-round, averaging , with no real seasonal spike. Sunshine hours are abundant, even in winter, and total just over 3,200 hours per year, or 73% of the possible total.
Demographics
Grand Junction is the principal city of the Grand Junction, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Grand Junction had a population of 65,560. The median age was 39.1 years. 18.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.4 males age 18 and over.
99.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.4% lived in rural areas.
There were 27,584 households in Grand Junction, of which 23.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 42.3% were married-couple households, 21.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 29,431 housing units, of which 6.3% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.8%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 53,209 81.2% Black or African American 640 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native 740 1.1% Asian 1,049 1.6% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 132 0.2% Other 3,374 5.1% Two or more races 6,416 9.8% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 10,328 15.8%
2000 census
As of the 2000 census, there were 41,986 people, 17,865 households, and 10,540 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 18,784 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 91.78% White, 0.60% African American, 0.94% Native American, 0.76% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 3.81% from other races, and 1.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 10.86% of the population.
There were 17,865 households, out of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. Of all households 33.2% were made up of individuals, and 13.8% had one living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.84.
In the city, 21.2% of the population was under the age of 18, 11.9% was from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.6 males.
The population figures are for Grand Junction only; the city abuts smaller towns and unincorporated county areas which contribute to area commerce.
The median income for a household in the city was $33,152, and the median income for a family was $43,851. Males had a median income of $31,685 versus $22,804 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,692. About 7.5% of families and 11.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.
Economy Economic history From the time settlers arrived in the 1880s until the 1960s, three of the main economic activities in the region were farming, fruit growing, and cattle raising. Fruit orchards, particularly between Grand Junction and Palisade to the east, remain important to the region's reputation and economy to the present day. Fruits most often grown are peaches, pears, apricots, plums, cherries, and, particularly since the 1980s, grapes for wine. In this semi-arid environment, these orchards thrive from a combination of abundant sunshine and irrigation from a system of canals that divert water from the Colorado River.
Attempts were made to establish sugar beet farming and beet sugar production. The Grand Valley Sugar Company established a campaign in 1893, sending three train carloads to the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company. Several tariffs and subsidies to domestic sugar were established in the 1890s, which led to uncertainty in the market. After the 1897 Dingley Act, the company was revived in 1898 and rallied to build a sugar factory. They failed to fundraise to build the plant. At the same time, Charles N. Cox was able to organize an effort to establish a factory in 1898. John F. Campion and others, including James Joseph Brown, Eben Smith, Charles E. Mitchell, George Trimble, James R. McKinnie, and Charles Boettcher invested, creating the Colorado Sugar Manufacturing Company in 1899 and contracting E. H. Dyer to build a factory. After they failed, they sold the plant to local investors, who were able to make it a success. The Campion-Boettcher group then created the Great Western Sugar Company.
Grand Junction was home to the Climax Uranium Mill, a now decommissioned mill that provided uranium ore to the US Atomic Energy Commission. It produced 2.2 million tons of uranium tailings, a by product of uranium mining which can be unsafe. For decades, Grand Junction residents were able to collect as much of the fine radioactive gray sand as they wanted for free. It was used as construction material all over town.
Education and healthcare have been important to the economy of the area, especially since the 1950s, with the rise of Colorado Mesa University and St. Mary's Hospital as leading employers in these fields.
Vast oil shale reserves were known to exist near Parachute, Colorado, in the Piceance Basin. The oil embargoes of the 1970s and high gas prices resulted in major financial interest in the region. Exxon purchased rights and used Grand Junction as its seat of operations. The city and the surrounding Grand Valley became prosperous in the 1970s and early 1980s largely because of the effects of oil shale development. The United States, western Colorado in particular, has the largest-known concentration of oil shale in the world (according to the Bureau of Land Management) and holds an estimated 800 gigabarrels of recoverable oil, enough to meet U.S. demand for oil at current levels for 110 years. Known as the "Rock That Burns", the shale can be mined and processed to produce oil. In the past, it was significantly more expensive than conventional oil. Sustained prices above $95 per barrel, however, may make extraction economically attractive in the coming years (see Oil shale economics). ExxonMobil pulled out of the region because of lower oil prices, which led to economic hardship in the region.