[2] The county was named for the many valuable minerals found in the mountains and streams of the area.

[3] At the 2000 census, there were 831 people in 377 households, including 251 families, in the county.

Of the 377 households 22.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.00% were married couples living together, 5.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.40% were non-families.

Mineral County has an extremely high proportion of land under federal ownership, with 95%[9] of the county under the management of the federal government (It houses an office of, and is surrounded by, the Rio Grande National Forest).

[citation needed] As of 2015 the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Mineral County, Colorado are:[10]