View source for List of counties in New Mexico

{{Short description|None}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox subdivision type
| name               = Counties of New Mexico
| alt_name           =  
| map                = {{New Mexico County Labelled Map}}
| category           = 
| territory          = [[State of New Mexico]]
| start_date         =
| current_number     = 33
| number_date        =
| population_range   =  635 ([[Harding County, New Mexico|Harding]]) – 671,747 ([[Bernalillo County, New Mexico|Bernalillo]])
| area_range         =  {{Convert|109|sqmi}} ([[Los Alamos County, New Mexico|Los Alamos]]) – {{Convert|6928|sqmi}} ([[Catron County, New Mexico|Catron]])
| government         = [[County government]]
| subdivision        = cities, towns, townships, unincorporated communities, indian reservations, [[Pueblo]], [[census-designated place|census-designated places]]
}}
{{Politics_of_New_Mexico}}

There are 33 [[County (United States)|counties]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[New Mexico]].

The [[New Mexico Territory]] was organized in September 1850. The first nine counties in the territory to be created, in 1852, were Bernalillo, Doña Ana, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Santa Ana, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos, and Valencia Counties. Mora County was created in 1860. Following the [[Gadsden Purchase]] of 1853–1854, the northeasternmost part of the New Mexico Territory was ceded to the new [[Colorado Territory]] in February 1861, before the western half was reorganized as the [[Arizona Territory]] in February 1863, establishing New Mexico's present-day boundaries.

Grant County was created in 1868, followed by Colfax and Lincoln Counties in 1869. In 1876, Santa Ana County was absorbed by Bernalillo County. A further 14 counties were then created between 1884 and 1909, bringing the total number to 26.

New Mexico was [[Admission to the Union|admitted to the Union]] as the 47th state on January 6, 1912. De Baca and Lea Counties were created in 1917, followed by Hidalgo County in 1920 and Catron and Harding Counties in 1921. Los Alamos County was created in 1949 and finally Cibola County in 1981, bringing the total number of counties to 33.

The [[Federal Information Processing Standard]] (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify states and counties, is provided with each entry.<ref>{{cite web |title=FIPS Publish 6-4 |url=http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip6-4.htm |publisher= National Institute of Standards and Technology |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929074056/http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip6-4.htm |archive-date=September 29, 2013 |access-date=August 6, 2007}}</ref> New Mexico's code is 35, which when combined with any county code would be written as 35XXX. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county. 
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==List==
{{see also|List of New Mexico counties by socioeconomic factors}}
For comparison, the population estimate for the state of New Mexico as of July 2024 was 2,130,256, and the area was {{nts|121589}} mi<sup>2</sup> (315,194&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>).

{|class="wikitable sortable" align="center" style="border: 1px solid #88a; background: #f7f8ff; padding: 5px; text-align: center;"
|-
! style="vertical-align: bottom; background-color: #ccf;"|County
! style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 65px; background-color: #ccf;" |FIPS code<br /><ref name="epa">{{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/codes/nm.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121213062112/http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/codes/nm.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 13, 2012 |title=EPA County FIPS Code Listing |access-date=August 6, 2007 |work=US Environmental Protection Agency }}</ref>
! style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 90px; background-color: #ccf;" | [[County seat]]<br /><ref name="NACO">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/state.cfm&state.cfm&statecode=NM |title=NACo - Find a county |publisher=National Association of Counties |access-date=August 7, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930181520/http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=%2Fcffiles%2Fcounties%2Fstate.cfm&state.cfm&statecode=NM |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
! style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 40px; background-color: #ccf;" | {{abbr|Est.|Established}}<br /><ref name="NACO" />
! style="vertical-align: bottom; background-color: #ccf;" | Formed from<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.com/~nmgenweb/table-of-counties.html |title=NMGenWeb Counties |access-date=August 6, 2007 |work=Rootsweb.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702074114/http://www.rootsweb.com/~nmgenweb/table-of-counties.html |archive-date=July 2, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
! style="vertical-align: bottom; background-color: #ccf;" | Etymology<br /><ref>[http://www.vivanewmexico.com/ghosts/hscounty.html Viva New Mexico County Names] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704111815/http://www.vivanewmexico.com/ghosts/hscounty.html |date=July 4, 2008 }}</ref>
! style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 60px; background-color: #ccf;" | {{abbr|Pop.|Population}}<br /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Place Rankings - Data Commons |url=https://datacommons.org/ranking/Count_Person/County/geoId/35 |access-date=2025-11-11 |website=datacommons.org |language=en}}</ref>
! style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 75px; background-color: #ccf;" | Area<br /><ref name="NACO" /><ref name="cen">{{cite web|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/new_mexico_map.html|title=New Mexico QuickFacts|work=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=August 7, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227230518/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/new_mexico_map.html|archive-date=December 27, 2011}} (2000 Census)</ref>
! style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 102px; background-color: #ccf;" class="unsortable"|Map
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=001|Name=Bernalillo |Seat=Albuquerque|Data2=1852|Data3=One of the nine original counties. |Data4=The Gonzales-Bernal family, Spanish nobles who settled the territory in the seventeenth century|Population=671747 |Area= 1166 |Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=003|Name=Catron |Seat=Reserve|Data2=1921|Data3=Part of Socorro County.|Data4=[[Thomas Benton Catron]] (1840–1921), a [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] attorney and [[New Mexico]]'s first [[United States Senator|U.S. Senator]]|Population=3795|Area=6928|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=005|Name=Chaves |Seat=Roswell|Data2=1889|Data3=Part of Lincoln County.|Data4=[[Jose Francisco Chaves]] (1833–1904), a [[U.S. Army]] colonel in New Mexico during and after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]|Population=63697|Area=6071|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=006|Name=Cibola |Seat=Grants|Data2=1981|Data3=Parts of Valencia County, Socorro County, McKinley County, and Catron County.|Data4=The mythical [[Quivira and Cíbola|Seven Cities of Cibola]]|Population=26686|Area=4540|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=007|Name=Colfax |Seat=Raton|Data2=1869|Data3=Part of Mora County.|Data4=[[Schuyler Colfax]] (1823–1885), the seventeenth [[Vice President of the United States|vice president of the United States]]|Population=12307|Area=3757|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=009|Name=Curry |Seat=Clovis|Data2=1909|Data3=Parts of Quay County and Roosevelt County.|Data4=[[George Curry (Governor of New Mexico Territory)|George Curry]] (1861–1947), a governor of [[New Mexico Territory]] from 1907 to 1910|Population=47156|Area=1406|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=011|Name=De Baca |Seat=Fort Sumner|Data2=1917|Data3=Parts of Chaves County and Guadalupe County.|Data4=[[Ezequiel C. de Baca|Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca]] (1864–1917), the second state [[governor of New Mexico]]|Population=1657|Area=2325|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=013|Name=Doña Ana |Seat=Las Cruces|Data2=1852|Data3=One of the nine original counties. |Data4=[[Don (honorific)|Doña]] Ana Robledo, a seventeenth-century Spanish woman known for her charitable giving to the native population|Population=229366|Area=3807|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=015|Name=Eddy |Seat=Carlsbad|Data2=1887|Data3=Part of Lincoln County.|Data4=Charles Eddy (1857–1931), a rancher and developer of the area |Population=61436|Area=4182|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=017|Name=Grant |Seat=Silver City|Data2=1868|Data3=Part of Doña Ana County. |Data4=[[Ulysses S. Grant|Ulysses Simpson Grant]] (1822–1885), the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] general and eighteenth [[president of the United States]]|Population=27541|Area=3966|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=019|Name=Guadalupe |Seat=Santa Rosa|Data2=1891|Data3=Part of San Miguel County.|Data4=[[Our Lady of Guadalupe]], the [[patron saint]] of the [[Americas]]|Population=4385|Area=3031|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=021|Name=Harding |Seat=Mosquero |Data2=1921|Data3=Parts of Mora County and Union County. |Data4=[[Warren G. Harding|Warren Gamaliel Harding]] (1865–1923), the twenty-ninth [[president of the United States]]|Population=635|Area=2126|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=023|Name=Hidalgo |Seat=Lordsburg|Data2=1920|Data3=Part of Grant County. |Data4=The [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]], named after a Mexican town in turn named for [[Miguel Hidalgo|Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla]] (1753 - 1811), the priest who is known as the ''Father of Mexican Independence''|Population=3966|Area=3446|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=025|Name=Lea |Seat=Lovington|Data2=1917|Data3=Parts of Chaves County and Eddy County.|Data4=Joseph Calloway Lea (1841–1904), a captain in the [[U.S. Army]] and the founder of the New Mexico Military Academy|Population=75151|Area=4393|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=027|Name=Lincoln |Seat=Carrizozo|Data2=1869|Data3=Part of Socorro County. |Data4=[[Abraham Lincoln]] (1809–1865), the sixteenth [[president of the United States]]|Population=20025|Area=4831|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=028|Name=Los Alamos |Seat=Los Alamos|Data2=1949|Data3=Parts of Sandoval County and Santa Fe County. |Data4=Named for its county seat of [[Los Alamos, New Mexico]], which itself is the Spanish name for the [[Populus deltoides|cottonwood]] tree |Population=19675|Area=109|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=029|Name=Luna |Seat=Deming|Data2=1901|Data3=Parts of Doña Ana County and Grant County.|Data4=Solomon Luna (1858–1912), the largest land owner in the county at the time of its creation; itself Spanish for moon|Population=25878|Area=2965|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=031|Name=McKinley |Seat=Gallup|Data2=1899|Data3=Part of Bernalillo County. |Data4=[[William McKinley]] (1843–1901), the twenty-fifth [[president of the United States]]|Population=68945|Area=5449|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=033|Name=Mora |Seat=Mora|Data2=1860|Data3=Part of Taos County. |Data4=Named for its county seat of [[Mora, New Mexico]], which is itself named after ''lo de mora'', the Spanish term for [[blackberry]] |Population=4096|Area=1931|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=035|Name=Otero |Seat=Alamogordo|Data2=1899|Data3=Parts of Doña Ana County and Lincoln County.|Data4=[[Miguel Antonio Otero (I)|Miguel A. Otero]] (1829-1882), territorial delegate to [[U. S. Congress]] or [[Miguel Antonio Otero (II)]] (1859–1944), 16th Governor of New Mexico Territory from 1897 to 1906|Population=69711|Area=6627|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=037|Name=Quay |Seat=Tucumcari|Data2=1903|Data3=Part of Guadalupe County. |Data4=[[Matthew Quay|Matthew Stanley Quay]] (1833–1904), a [[U.S. Senator]] from [[Pennsylvania]] who supported [[New Mexico]]'s statehood|Population=8403|Area=2855|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=039|Name=Rio Arriba |Seat=Tierra Amarilla |Data2=1852|Data3=One of the nine original counties. |Data4=Named for its location on the upper [[Rio Grande]] (''Río Arriba'' means "upstream" or "up the river" in [[Spanish language|Spanish]])|Population=39955|Area=5858|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=041|Name=Roosevelt |Seat=Portales |Data2=1903|Data3=Parts of Chaves County and Guadalupe County.|Data4=[[Theodore Roosevelt]] (1858–1919), the twenty-sixth [[president of the United States]]|Population=18713|Area=2449|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=043|Name=Sandoval |Seat=Bernalillo|Data2=1903|Data3=Part of Bernalillo County. |Data4=Named for the Sandoval family, prominent seventeenth-century Spanish landowners |Population=157757|Area=3710|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=045|Name=San Juan |Seat=Aztec |Data2=1887|Data3=Part of Rio Arriba County.|Data4=[[San Juan River (Colorado River)|San Juan River]], itself named after the [[Catholic]] saint|Population=120817|Area=5514|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=047|Name=San Miguel |Seat=Las Vegas |Data2=1852|Data3=One of the nine original counties. |Data4=San Miguel de Bado Catholic Church, the first in the area|Population=26428|Area=4717|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=049|Name=Santa Fe |Seat=Santa Fe |Data2=1852|Data3=One of the nine original counties.|Data4=Named after the city of Santa Fe whose full Spanish name is “La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Assisi” or “The royal city of the holy faith of St. Francis of Assisi” |Population=157765|Area=1909|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=051|Name=Sierra |Seat=Truth or Consequences |Data2=1884|Data3=Parts of Doña Ana County and Socorro County. |Data4=Possibly named for the [[Black Range]]. (''Sierra'' is ''mountain range'' in [[Spanish language|Spanish]].)|Population=11389|Area=4180|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=053|Name=Socorro |Seat=Socorro |Data2=1852|Data3=One of the nine original counties.|Data4=Spanish term meaning "aid," which refers to the help Native Americans gave to starving travelers |Population=15967|Area=6647|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=055|Name=Taos |Seat=Taos |Data2=1852|Data3=One of the nine original counties.|Data4=Named for its county seat of [[Taos, New Mexico]], which in turn was named for the nearby [[Taos Pueblo]], an ancient Native American village.  ''Taos'' is ''red willow'' in the [[Tiwa language]]|Population=34482|Area=2203|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=057|Name=Torrance |Seat=Estancia |Data2=1903|Data3=Parts of Bernalillo County, Valencia County, and Socorro County. |Data4=Francis J. Torrance (1859–1919), the developer of the New Mexico Central Railroad|Population=15986|Area=3345|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=059|Name=Union |Seat=Clayton |Data2=1893|Data3=Parts of Colfax County, Mora County and San Miguel County.|Data4=Named for the "union" of the three counties which donated land to form the new county|Population=3926|Area=3830|Size=100px}}
{{Countyrow |N=35|Num=061|Name=Valencia |Seat=Los Lunas |Data2=1852|Data3=One of the nine original counties.|Data4=Named for the town of [[Valencia, Valencia County, New Mexico|Valencia, New Mexico]], which is itself named for [[Valencia]], [[Spain]]|Population=80813|Area=1068|Size=100px}}
|}

==Former counties==
* [[Arizona County]], New Mexico Territory, is mentioned in the [[1860 United States census]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Territory of New Mexico |url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1860/population/1860a-42.pdf |website=United States Census Bureau |date=1860}}</ref>
* [[Mesilla County, New Mexico|Mesilla County]], appears on 1860s-era territorial map encompassing area in present-day Dona Aña, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, Sierra west of the Rio Grande
* [[Santa Ana County, New Mexico Territory|Santa Ana County]] (1844–1876) absorbed by Bernalillo County; portions are in present-day McKinley County
* [[Santa Fe County, Texas]] (1848–1850), never organized, included the portion of New Mexico east of the [[Rio Grande]] except for southeastern New Mexico east of the [[Pecos River]] and south of the [[Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River]] as well as the [[Trans-Pecos]] and most of the [[Texas Panhandle|Panhandle]] regions of Texas, the [[Oklahoma Panhandle]], and portions of Colorado, Kansas, and Wyoming. Before Texas ceded its western lands to the federal government after the [[Compromise of 1850]], the following counties were briefly created from Santa Fe County earlier that year in south-central New Mexico between the Rio Grande and the Pecos:
** [[El Paso County, Texas]]
** [[Worth County, Texas]]

== References ==
<references/>

== Further reading ==
* {{cite web |last1=writer |first1=Statf |author-link1= |collaboration= |df= |year=2022 |location= |title=NEW MEXICO COUNTY GOVERNMENT OVERVIEW |url=https://ce.naco.org//app/profiles/CountyGov/CountyGov_35000.pdf |url-access= |format= |department= |website=ce.naco.org |type= |language= |edition= |agency=National Association of Counties (NACo) |arxiv= |asin= |asin-tld= |bibcode= |bibcode-access= |biorxiv= |citeseerx= |doi= |doi-access= |doi-broken-date= |eissn= |hdl= |hdl-access= |isbn= |ismn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |jstor-access= |lccn= |medrxiv= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |ol-access= |osti= |osti-access= |pmc= |pmc-embargo-date= |pmid= |rfc= |sbn= |ssrn= |s2cid= |s2cid-access= |zbl= |id= |archive-format= |access-date=January 3, 2025 |quote-page= |quote-pages= |quote= |ref= }}

==External links==
*{{Cite web | url=http://www.vivanewmexico.com/ghosts/hscounty.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704111815/http://www.vivanewmexico.com/ghosts/hscounty.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 4, 2008 |title = Historical Sidebar: New Mexico Counties}}
*[http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Enmguadal/Histmaps.html Maps of historic New Mexico counties]

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