Custer County by the Numbers: Big Country, Small Population, Surprising Economy
What 5,590 residents, hundreds of independent businesses, 274 farms, and a whole lot of elbow room tell us about life and opportunity in Colorado’s Wet Mountain Valley.
By KC Stark | KCStark.com | October 12, 2026
Around Here, Business Often Wears Work Boots
I’ve always had a soft spot for people who build something with their own two hand and mind. Starting businesses, taking chances, making mistakes, figuring things out, and occasionally getting something right.
I learned by doing. Which brings me to Custer County, Colorado.
We’ve got nearly 739 square miles of land and an estimated 5,590 residents.
That’s a whole lot of elbow room! But here’s something I’ve learned about our corner of Colorado. Just because you don’t see skyscrapers, corporate headquarters, or crowded shopping malls doesn’t mean there’s no economy.
Sometimes the real business activity happens behind a ranch gate, inside a workshop, from a pickup truck, or at somebody’s kitchen table.
And when I started digging into Custer County’s latest economic statistics, one number practically jumped off the page!
896 Business Establishments Without Paid Employees!
Wait. What? We’ll get to that in a moment. We’ve already taken a closer look at Westcliffe and Silver Cliff.
Now let’s widen the lens and see what makes the whole county tick.
Custer County, Colorado: The Numbers at a Glance
According to the latest available U.S. Census Bureau and USDA statistics:
County indicator | Figure | Data year |
Estimated population | 5,590 | 2025 |
Land area | 738.63 square miles | 2020 |
Population growth since 2020 estimates base | 18.8% | 2020–2025 |
Residents age 65+ | About 36% | 2025 |
Veterans | 557 | 2020–2024 |
Median household income | $72,674 | 2020–2024 |
Employer establishments | 170 | 2023 |
Paid jobs at employer establishments | 717 | 2023 |
Annual employer payroll | $26.94 million | 2023 |
Nonemployer establishments | 896 | 2024 |
Farms | 274 | 2022 |
Households with broadband subscriptions | 80.4% | 2020–2024 |
A quick note: government statistics don’t all arrive at the same time. We’re using the latest available reporting periods for each category, not pretending every number was collected in 2026.
And we’re talking about all of Custer County, not just Westcliffe, Silver Cliff, or ZIP code 81252.
Now, let’s get to the good stuff…
896 Businesses Without Employees? Hold My Coffee!
According to the Census Bureau’s 2024 Nonemployer Statistics, Custer County had 896 nonemployer business establishments.
Sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? How do you run a business without employees?
Well, quite easily, actually.
Think independent contractors, consultants, freelancers, certain rental businesses, and owner-operated enterprises.
Some are full-time businesses. Others generate supplemental income.
And because the Census counts establishments rather than individual entrepreneurs, we shouldn’t assume these represent 896 different full-time business owners.
Still, it’s a remarkable amount of independent economic activity for a small rural county.
Now consider the other side of the equation.
In 2023, Custer County had 170 employer establishments, supporting 717 paid jobs and approximately $26.94 million in annual payroll.
Those are different business categories measured in different years, so we shouldn’t simply add them together and declare that’s the county’s current business count.
But they tell us something important.
Our local economy is much bigger than the storefronts you see driving through town.
There’s the contractor who starts before sunrise. The self-employed tradesperson who’s booked weeks ahead. The consultant working from home. The entrepreneur with a laptop, a pickup truck, and a pretty good idea.
Not everybody needs a storefront to make a living.
And not every successful business needs a dozen employees.
As someone who’s spent decades building businesses, I appreciate that. A good reputation, dependable service, and a willingness to work can take you a long way.
Of course, these days it also helps when customers can find you online.
More on that in a minute.
Ranching: The Original Small-Business Economy
Long before anyone in the Wet Mountain Valley worried about Google rankings, social media, or website traffic, this place had its own economic engines.
Mining was one.
Ranching and agriculture were others.
And agriculture remains an important part of our county’s working identity.
According to the USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture, Custer County had 274 farms covering approximately 99,280 acres.
About 72,866 of those acres were classified as pastureland.
And here’s something I particularly like.
97% of Those Farms Were Classified as Family Farms
That’s a pretty strong reminder of the people behind the fences.
But let’s keep the numbers in perspective.
The USDA definition includes a variety of agricultural operations, including smaller properties. Those 274 farms aren’t necessarily 274 sprawling cattle ranches.
There’s also:
Hay production,
equipment maintenance,
livestock care,
land management,
transportation,
and plenty of other work involved.
And then there’s the weather. Around here, Mother Nature seems perfectly happy to rewrite your business plan without giving you a courtesy call!
Farming and ranching are businesses, and often difficult ones.
They involve investment, expenses, risk, planning, and a willingness to keep going when things don’t work out exactly as expected.
Sounds a lot like entrepreneurship to me.
The next time you’re admiring those beautiful open spaces, remember that many of them are also working landscapes.
We’re Growing. Now What?
Custer County’s estimated population reached 5,590 residents in July 2025.
That’s approximately 18.8% higher than the Census Bureau’s revised April 2020 population estimates base.
For a small rural county, that’s meaningful growth.
More people can mean more customers for restaurants, contractors, retailers, healthcare providers, and other local businesses.
But more people also mean additional needs.
Roads.
Emergency services.
Utilities.
Housing.
Healthcare.
Growth isn’t automatically good or bad.
What matters is how we manage it. And here’s another number that deserves attention.
Approximately 36% of Custer County residents are 65 or older.
That’s more than one in three.
Some people look at that and see nothing but challenges. I see challenges, yes. But I also see an enormous amount of experience.
Retired professionals. Veterans.
Former business owners.
Skilled workers.
People who’ve spent decades figuring out how to make things work.
As an Army veteran myself, I also appreciate the Census estimate of 557 veterans living in Custer County.
That’s a lot of experience and service represented in a relatively small population.
The question isn’t whether older or younger residents matter more. It’s whether we’re creating opportunities for both.
Housing, Jobs, and Plenty of Windshield Time
Here’s a number many locals can probably relate to.
According to the 2020–2024 American Community Survey, Custer County workers who commute report an estimated mean travel time of 36.9 minutes.
Mileage isn’t the only consideration:
Weather,
road conditions,
and the distance between communities can make rural life a little more complicated.
Now add housing to the picture.
The Census Bureau estimates Custer County’s median owner-occupied home value at $392,100 for the 2020–2024 survey period.
That’s not today’s selling price. It’s an estimate based on surveyed homeowners.
The Internet: Our Other Highway
Here’s another statistic that caught my attention.
Approximately 80.4% of Custer County households reported having a broadband internet subscription during the 2020–2024 survey period.
That’s encouraging. But it also means a meaningful share of households didn’t report having one.
Why does that matter?
Because the internet has become part of the basic infrastructure of doing business.
A contractor can communicate with customers and send estimates without spending the entire day driving.
A ranching operation can use online services to manage purchases and communicate with suppliers.
A home-based consultant can serve customers hundreds of miles away.
A shopkeeper can reach visitors before they even arrive in the valley.
And a local service provider can attract customers through Google, online maps, and increasingly, AI-powered search.
The opportunities aren’t limited to our county’s 5,590 residents.
Today, your next customer might find you online before they’ve ever heard of Custer County.
And that’s one of the biggest opportunities facing independent businesses in rural America.
For anyone curious about how that works, I’ve put together a practical guide to small-business SEO:
What Makes a Strong Local Economy?
Here’s where I think all these numbers come together.
Custer County has a substantial independent-business sector, a deep agricultural heritage, a growing population, and residents with an enormous amount of experience.
Housing availability. Workforce development. Infrastructure. Healthcare access.
None of those challenges is going to disappear because somebody comes up with a clever slogan.
And no amount of fancy marketing can substitute for a good product, honest service, and doing what you said you would do.
But after decades of building businesses, I’ve learned that the first step toward making good decisions is understanding what you’re working with.
That’s why these numbers matter.
They’re not the whole story.
They’re a place to start.
Big Country. Bigger Possibilities.
I’ve met a lot of people in my life. Some ran large companies. Others ran small shops. Some wore suits. Others wore work boots.
You know what I’ve learned?
A good idea doesn’t care what you’re wearing.
Neither does hard work.
And that brings me right back to Custer County.
We’ve got ranchers, contractors, tradespeople, entrepreneurs, veterans, retirees, families, and thousands of neighbors contributing in their own ways.
Some have employees.
Some are the entire business.
Some are just getting started.
Others have spent a lifetime building something worth passing along.
Together, they make this county work. The numbers won’t measure everything.
Custer County isn’t just 5,590 people scattered across nearly 739 square miles.
It’s a working community with deep roots, real economic activity, and plenty of potential.
And here’s one thing I’ve learned after a lifetime of starting and building businesses.
You don’t have to be big to build something worthwhile.
Sometimes you just need a good idea, a little grit, and people willing to give it a shot.
Around here, we’ve got plenty of all three.
Explore More: Westcliffe, Silver Cliff & the Wet Mountain Valley
This article is part of our growing By the Numbers series, exploring the history, people, businesses, and economy of the communities we call home.
Westcliffe by the Numbers
What’s life really like in our little mountain town? Explore Westcliffe’s population, demographics, housing, and local opportunities.
Silver Cliff by the Numbers: The Town That Outlasted Its Boom
Once Colorado’s third-largest town, Silver Cliff has an extraordinary history of silver mining, reinvention, and resilience.
Together, these articles help paint a fuller picture of the Wet Mountain Valley—where we’ve been, who we are, and where we might go next.
Is Your Custer County Business as Visible as It Should Be?
We’ve just explored hundreds of independent business establishments operating throughout Custer County.
Here’s my question.
When someone searches for the products or services you provide, do they find your business—or somebody else’s?
I started my first business in Europe back in 1994. Web design, of all things!
We were writing HTML, building websites by hand, and connecting to the internet through painfully slow dial-up modems.
Remember those screeching, squawking sounds when a modem connected? LOL! You could practically make a cup of coffee waiting for a page to load.
There was no Google. No Facebook. No AI.
Just a new technology with possibilities most people hadn’t even imagined.
And here’s what I learned early on. Technology changes. The fundamentals of good business don’t.
WANT MORE? TEXT (719) 930-9846
Explore my services and results:
Website Design & Redesign
From Invisible to 309 Ranking Keywords: A Six-Month SEO Case Study
Free Website Audit
Sources & Research Methodology
U.S. Census Bureau — Custer County QuickFacts
Population, population growth, age, veterans, household income, housing, broadband, employment, commuting, and geographic statistics.
U.S. Census Bureau — 2024 Nonemployer Statistics
Custer County’s 896 nonemployer business establishments in 2024.
U.S. Census Bureau — County Business Patterns
2023 employer establishments, paid jobs, and annual payroll.
USDA — 2022 Census of Agriculture: Custer County, Colorado
Farm counts, agricultural acreage, pastureland, and family-farm classifications.
Custer County Government
Understanding the Numbers
This article uses the latest available federal data for each subject, with reporting periods ranging from 2020 through 2025.
Population estimates, business statistics, and American Community Survey figures use different collection methods. Survey estimates carry margins of error.
The 896 nonemployer establishments and 170 employer establishments represent different statistical categories and reporting years. They should not be combined into an unduplicated count of businesses or business owners.
USDA farm counts include qualifying small agricultural operations and are separate from the Census business-establishment statistics.
Housing values represent historical survey estimates, not current asking or selling prices.
Independent community research and commentary by KC Stark LLC. This is not an official Custer County government publication.
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