Yellow Jacket City is in the Montezuma County region of Colorado. The zip code for the city is 81335 and is part of the Durango metro area. The area code is 970. The current unemployment rate is 3.4%, slightly higher than the county's average of 4.5%. The median age is 29 years.
The city is a small mining town that was originally called Red Jacket. The name was derived from a Native American chief from the Seneca tribe. The city grew in the 1920s due to copper mines in the area. Between 1871 and 1880, the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company produced almost half of the nation's copper. It also supported the dairy industry.