Information about counties in New Mexico organized
by population from most people to least people.
Bernalillo County
001 Albuquerque 1852 One of the nine original counties. The Gonzales-Bernal family, Spanish nobles who settled the territory in the seventeenth century 670,968 1,166 mi²
(3,020 km²) State map highlighting Bernalillo County
Doña Ana County
013 Las Cruces 1852 One of the nine original counties. Doña Ana Robledo, a seventeenth-century Spanish woman known for her charitable giving to the native population 213,598 3,807 sq mi
(9,860 km2) State map highlighting Doña Ana County
Santa Fe County
049 Santa Fe 1852 One of the nine original counties. Spanish term meaning "holy faith," which refers to the spirituality of the founding missionaries 145,648 1,909 sq mi
(4,944 km2) State map highlighting Santa Fe County
Sandoval County
043 Bernalillo 1903 Part of Bernalillo County. Named for the Sandoval family, prominent seventeenth-century Spanish landowners 134,259 3,710 sq mi
(9,609 km2) State map highlighting Sandoval County
San Juan County
045 Aztec 1887 Part of Rio Arriba County. San Juan River, itself named after the Catholic saint 128,200 5,514 sq mi
(14,281 km2) State map highlighting San Juan County
Valencia County
061 Los Lunas 1852 One of the nine original counties. Named for the town of Valencia, New Mexico, which is itself named for Valencia, Spain 77,070 1,068 sq mi
(2,766 km2) State map highlighting Valencia County
McKinley County
031 Gallup 1899 Part of Bernalillo County. William McKinley, the twenty-fifth president of the United States 73,664 5,449 sq mi
(14,113 km2) State map highlighting McKinley County
Chaves County
005 Roswell 1889 Part of Lincoln County. Jose Francisco Chaves, a U.S. Army colonel in New Mexico during and after the Civil War 65,890 6,071 sq mi
(15,724 km2) State map highlighting Chaves County
Otero County
035 Alamogordo 1899 Parts of Doña Ana County and Lincoln County. Miguel A. Otero, territorial delegate to U. S. Congress 65,703 6,627 sq mi
(17,164 km2) State map highlighting Otero County
Lea County
025 Lovington 1917 Parts of Chaves County and Eddy County. Joseph Calloway Lea, a captain in the U.S. Army and the founder of the New Mexico Military Academy 65,423 4,393 sq mi
(11,378 km2) State map highlighting Lea County
Eddy County
015 Carlsbad 1887 Part of Lincoln County. Charles Eddy, a rancher and developer of the area 54,152 4,182 sq mi
(10,831 km2) State map highlighting Eddy County
Curry County
009 Clovis 1909 Parts of Quay County and Roosevelt County. George Curry, a governor of New Mexico Territory from 1907 to 1910 49,649 1,406 sq mi
(3,642 km2) State map highlighting Curry County
Rio Arriba County
039 Tierra Amarilla 1852 One of the nine original counties. Named for its location on the upper Rio Grande (Rio Arriba is "upper river" in Spanish) 40,446 5,858 sq mi
(15,172 km2) State map highlighting Rio Arriba County
Taos County
055 Taos 1852 One of the nine original counties. 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 32,917 2,203 sq mi
(5,706 km2) State map highlighting Taos County
Grant County
017 Silver City 1868 Part of Doña Ana County. Ulysses Simpson Grant, the Civil War general and eighteenth president of the United States 29,380 3,966 sq mi
(10,272 km2) State map highlighting Grant County
San Miguel County
047 Las Vegas 1852 One of the nine original counties. San Miguel de Bado Catholic Church, the first in the area 29,301 4,717 sq mi
(12,217 km2) State map highlighting San Miguel County
Cibola County
006 Grants 1981 Parts of Valencia County, Socorro County, McKinley County, and Catron County. The mythical Seven Cities of Cibola 27,658 4,540 sq mi
(11,759 km2) State map highlighting Cibola County
Luna County
029 Deming 1901 Parts of Doña Ana County and Grant County. Solomon Luna, the largest land owner in the county at the time of its creation; itself Spanish for moon 25,281 2,965 sq mi
(7,679 km2) State map highlighting Luna County
Lincoln County
027 Carrizozo 1869 Part of Socorro County. Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States 20,454 4,831 sq mi
(12,512 km2) State map highlighting Lincoln County
Roosevelt County
041 Portales 1903 Parts of Chaves County and Guadalupe County. Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth president of the United States 20,446 2,449 sq mi
(6,343 km2) State map highlighting Roosevelt County
Los Alamos County
028 Los Alamos 1949 Parts of Sandoval County and Santa Fe County. Named for its county seat of Los Alamos, New Mexico, which itself is the Spanish name for the cottonwood tree 18,222 109 sq mi
(282 km2) State map highlighting Los Alamos County
Socorro County
053 Socorro 1852 One of the nine original counties. Spanish term meaning "aid," which refers to the help Native Americans gave to starving travelers 17,873 6,647 sq mi
(17,216 km2) State map highlighting Socorro County
Torrance County
057 Estancia 1903 Parts of Bernalillo County, Valencia County, and Socorro County. Francis J. Torrance, the developer of the New Mexico Central Railroad 16,345 3,345 sq mi
(8,664 km2) State map highlighting Torrance County
Colfax County
007 Raton 1869 Part of Mora County. Schuyler Colfax, the seventeenth vice president of the United States 13,640 3,757 sq mi
(9,731 km2) State map highlighting Colfax County
Sierra County
051 Truth or Consequences 1884 Parts of Doña Ana County and Socorro County. Possibly named for the Black Range. (Sierra is mountain range in Spanish.) 11,943 4,180 sq mi
(10,826 km2) State map highlighting Sierra County
Quay County
037 Tucumcari 1903 Part of Guadalupe County. Matthew Stanley Quay, a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania who supported New Mexico's statehood 9,026 2,855 sq mi
(7,394 km2) State map highlighting Quay County
Hidalgo County
023 Lordsburg 1920 Part of Grant County. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the priest who is known as the Father of Mexican Independence 4,861 3,446 sq mi
(8,925 km2) State map highlighting Hidalgo County
Mora County
033 Mora 1859 Part of Taos County. Named for its county seat of Mora, New Mexico, which is itself named after lo de mora, the Spanish term for blackberry 4,773 1,931 sq mi
(5,001 km2) State map highlighting Mora County
Guadalupe County
019 Santa Rosa 1891 Part of San Miguel County. Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the Americas 4,619 3,031 sq mi
(7,850 km2) State map highlighting Guadalupe County
Union County
059 Clayton 1893 Parts of Colfax County, Mora County and San Miguel County. Named for the "union" of the three counties which donated land to form the new county 4,433 3,830 sq mi
(9,920 km2) State map highlighting Union County
Catron County
003 Reserve 1921 Part of Socorro County. Thomas Benton Catron, a Santa Fe attorney and New Mexico's first U.S. Senator 3,733 6,928 sq mi
(17,943 km2) State map highlighting Catron County
De Baca County
011 Fort Sumner 1917 Parts of Chaves County and Guadalupe County. Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca, the second state governor of New Mexico 1,945 2,325 sq mi
(6,022 km2) State map highlighting De Baca County
Harding County
021 Mosquero 1921 Parts of Mora County and Union County. Warren Gamaliel Harding, the twenty-ninth president of the United States 740 2,126 sq mi
(5,506 km2) State map highlighting Harding County
New Mexico Travel Guide
Southwest Region of the United States
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