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 2021, at 30.3%. Los Alamos County had the lowest, at 3.7%. The median was 19.8% and the figure for New Mexico was 17.7%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest30.3McKinley County
Lowest3.7Los Alamos County
Median19.833 counties
New Mexico17.7History

All counties, 2021

CSVChart (SVG)

McKinley CountyMcKinley County: 30.3 %30.3Chaves CountyChaves County: 27.6 %27.6Luna CountyLuna County: 27.6 %27.6Sierra CountySierra County: 26.7 %26.7Cibola CountyCibola County: 26.4 %26.4Guadalupe CountyGuadalupe County: 25.8 %25.8San Juan CountySan Juan County: 24.3 %24.3Hidalgo CountyHidalgo County: 24.1 %24.1Torrance CountyTorrance County: 22.7 %22.7Quay CountyQuay County: 22.3 %22.3Socorro CountySocorro County: 22.2 %22.2Mora CountyMora County: 21.9 %21.9San Miguel CountySan Miguel County: 21.4 %21.4Roosevelt CountyRoosevelt County: 21.1 %21.1Rio Arriba CountyRio Arriba County: 20.4 %20.4Otero CountyOtero County: 19.9 %19.9Catron CountyCatron County: 19.8 %19.8De Baca CountyDe Baca County: 19.6 %19.6Union CountyUnion County: 19.5 %19.5Doña Ana CountyDoña Ana County: 19.3 %19.3Curry CountyCurry County: 18.9 %18.9Colfax CountyColfax County: 18.8 %18.8Lea CountyLea County: 18.8 %18.8Valencia CountyValencia County: 18.8 %18.8Grant CountyGrant County: 18.6 %18.6Taos CountyTaos County: 18.6 %18.6Lincoln CountyLincoln County: 18.4 %18.4Harding CountyHarding County: 17.4 %17.4Bernalillo CountyBernalillo County: 15.2 %15.2Eddy CountyEddy County: 13.8 %13.8Santa Fe CountySanta Fe County: 12.3 %12.3Sandoval CountySandoval County: 9.4 %9.4Los Alamos CountyLos Alamos County: 3.7 %3.7
%. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Full ranking

RankCounties2021 (%)Change on 2020
1McKinley County30.3-1.7 pts
2Chaves County27.6+8.4 pts
2Luna County27.6+5.3 pts
4Sierra County26.7+4.6 pts
5Cibola County26.4+1.3 pts
6Guadalupe County25.8+3 pts
7San Juan County24.3+2.8 pts
8Hidalgo County24.1+4.3 pts
9Torrance County22.7+1.3 pts
10Quay County22.3+0.3 pts
11Socorro County22.2-2.9 pts
12Mora County21.9+2.1 pts
13San Miguel County21.4+0.5 pts
14Roosevelt County21.1+2.9 pts
15Rio Arriba County20.4+0.7 pts
16Otero County19.9+4.4 pts
17Catron County19.8-3 pts
18De Baca County19.6+2.6 pts
19Union County19.5+0.5 pts
20Doña Ana County19.3-1.2 pts
21Curry County18.9+4 pts
22Colfax County18.8+1.6 pts
22Lea County18.8+6.2 pts
22Valencia County18.8+3.3 pts
25Grant County18.6-1.4 pts
25Taos County18.6-0.3 pts
27Lincoln County18.4+1.5 pts
28Harding County17.4+2.3 pts
29Bernalillo County15.2-0.1 pts
30Eddy County13.8+1 pts
31Santa Fe County12.3-0.2 pts
32Sandoval County9.4-1 pts
33Los Alamos County3.7+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/2021/2021-state-and-county/est21all.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 30.3% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest poverty rate?

Los Alamos County, with 3.7% in 2021.

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