Data / Rankings / Poverty rate (US official measure) / Counties in New Mexico

Counties in New Mexico by poverty rate

McKinley County had the highest poverty rate of 33 counties in 2019, at 30.1%. Los Alamos County had the lowest, at 3.5%. The median was 19.9% and the figure for New Mexico was 17.5%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest30.1McKinley County
Lowest3.5Los Alamos County
Median19.933 counties
New Mexico17.5History

All counties, 2019

CSVChart (SVG)

McKinley CountyMcKinley County: 30.1 %30.1Sierra CountySierra County: 27.6 %27.6Socorro CountySocorro County: 26 %26Cibola CountyCibola County: 25.5 %25.5Doña Ana CountyDoña Ana County: 23.8 %23.8Luna CountyLuna County: 23.8 %23.8San Miguel CountySan Miguel County: 23.8 %23.8Guadalupe CountyGuadalupe County: 23.5 %23.5Hidalgo CountyHidalgo County: 22.9 %22.9Rio Arriba CountyRio Arriba County: 22.2 %22.2Quay CountyQuay County: 21.7 %21.7Torrance CountyTorrance County: 21.6 %21.6Mora CountyMora County: 21.2 %21.2Catron CountyCatron County: 20.6 %20.6Union CountyUnion County: 20.3 %20.3Otero CountyOtero County: 20.1 %20.1San Juan CountySan Juan County: 19.9 %19.9Roosevelt CountyRoosevelt County: 18.8 %18.8Curry CountyCurry County: 18.7 %18.7De Baca CountyDe Baca County: 18.6 %18.6Taos CountyTaos County: 18.2 %18.2Chaves CountyChaves County: 18.1 %18.1Grant CountyGrant County: 18.1 %18.1Valencia CountyValencia County: 17.6 %17.6Colfax CountyColfax County: 17 %17Bernalillo CountyBernalillo County: 15.5 %15.5Harding CountyHarding County: 15.4 %15.4Lea CountyLea County: 15.1 %15.1Lincoln CountyLincoln County: 13.7 %13.7Santa Fe CountySanta Fe County: 12.4 %12.4Eddy CountyEddy County: 11.2 %11.2Sandoval CountySandoval County: 10 %10Los Alamos CountyLos Alamos County: 3.5 %3.5
%. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Full ranking

RankCounties2019 (%)Change on 2018
1McKinley County30.1-2.2 pts
2Sierra County27.6+1.9 pts
3Socorro County26-3.6 pts
4Cibola County25.5-3.1 pts
5Doña Ana County23.8-1.1 pts
5Luna County23.8-3.4 pts
5San Miguel County23.8-4.4 pts
8Guadalupe County23.5-0.8 pts
9Hidalgo County22.9-2.8 pts
10Rio Arriba County22.2+0.2 pts
11Quay County21.7-2.4 pts
12Torrance County21.6-3.6 pts
13Mora County21.2-2.3 pts
14Catron County20.6-2.7 pts
15Union County20.3-0.1 pts
16Otero County20.1-0.2 pts
17San Juan County19.9-3.2 pts
18Roosevelt County18.8-3.8 pts
19Curry County18.7+1.5 pts
20De Baca County18.6-1.8 pts
21Taos County18.2-3.2 pts
22Chaves County18.1-0.8 pts
22Grant County18.1-2.6 pts
24Valencia County17.6+0.3 pts
25Colfax County17-2.8 pts
26Bernalillo County15.5-1 pts
27Harding County15.4-1.3 pts
28Lea County15.1-1 pts
29Lincoln County13.7-2.7 pts
30Santa Fe County12.4+0.2 pts
31Eddy County11.2-4.5 pts
32Sandoval County10-2.6 pts
33Los Alamos County3.5-0.4 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

People living in families or alone with income below the official US poverty thresholds, as a percentage of people whose poverty status can be determined. United States: Census Bureau Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE), all ages.

Absolute thresholds set by the US government, so not comparable with the EU at_risk_of_poverty_rate.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE): percent of people of all ages in poverty, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/saipe/datasets/2019/2019-state-and-county/est19all.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in New Mexico by poverty rate using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"poverty_rate","level":"province","within":"New Mexico","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=poverty_rate&level=province&within=New%20Mexico&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest poverty rate?

McKinley County, with 30.1% in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest poverty rate?

Los Alamos County, with 3.5% in 2019.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE): percent of people of all ages in poverty, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Poverty rate (US official measure): other rankings

Counties in New Mexico: more rankings