New Mexico Counties Map: Click All 33 Counties

How many counties are in New Mexico?

New Mexico has 33 counties. 34 states have more, and 15 have fewer.

New Mexico has 33 counties. Los Alamos County, home of the national laboratory, is the smallest. Catron County, in the mountainous west, is the largest, and Bernalillo County (Albuquerque) has the most people.

How New Mexico's counties were formed

New Mexico's first counties were created in 1852 by the territorial legislature from older Spanish and Mexican districts. More were added through the 1900s as railroads and oil and gas towns grew. Los Alamos County was created in 1949 for the national laboratory town, and Cibola County, split from Valencia County in 1981, is the 33rd and newest.

New Mexico regions and the counties in each

New Mexico's map has five parts. North Central New Mexico includes Santa Fe, Taos, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos in the Sangre de Cristo and Jemez mountains. The Rio Grande Valley runs south through Bernalillo, Valencia, Socorro and Doña Ana (Las Cruces). The Northwest holds San Juan and McKinley counties and much of the Navajo Nation. The Eastern Plains are big farm and ranch counties such as Union, Quay and Curry along the Texas line, and Southeast New Mexico includes Eddy County, home of Carlsbad Caverns, and Lea County's oil fields.

Notable places on the New Mexico county map

Wheeler Peak, the state's highest point at 13,161 feet, is in Taos County, and Taos Pueblo, lived in for about 1,000 years, is nearby. White Sands National Park, the largest gypsum dunefield in the world, is in Otero and Doña Ana counties. Carlsbad Caverns is in Eddy County, and Chaco Culture National Historical Park is in San Juan and McKinley counties.

New Mexico counties map: the biggest and smallest

Catron County is the largest county in New Mexico, with 6,924 square miles of land, about 6% of the state. That's more land than the whole state of Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii and Rhode Island. Los Alamos County is the smallest, at 109 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Los Alamos County (109 sq mi), Valencia County (1,067 sq mi) and Bernalillo County (1,161 sq mi).

Which counties in New Mexico have the most people?

Bernalillo County has the most people, about 671,747 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 32% of everyone in New Mexico. The three biggest counties together hold 50% of the state's 2,130,256 people. Harding County has the fewest, about 635.

The most crowded is Bernalillo County, with about 578 people per square mile. The emptiest is Harding County, with less than one person per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Santa Fe in?

Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, is in Santa Fe County. Santa Fe County ranks 3rd of 33 by population. New Mexico is called the Land of Enchantment, and it became the 47th state in 1912.

Counties on the New Mexico border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. New Mexico shares a border with Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas.

How New Mexico's counties compare with other states

New Mexico ranks 5th among the 50 states in land area and 36th in population. Its average county covers about 3,676 square miles and holds about 64,553 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so New Mexico's counties are bigger than usual in size. Bigger counties mean fewer names to learn for a state this size.

Landmarks for learning the counties of New Mexico

• Bernalillo County (Albuquerque) sits in the middle of the state on the Rio Grande.
• Santa Fe County holds the capital, north of Albuquerque.
• San Juan County is in the Four Corners in the northwest.

With 33 counties, work one region at a time: study it with names on, then take a Practice round and stop when you've found that group. Then print the New Mexico county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 33 New Mexico counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

New Mexico geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the Southwest states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see homeschooling in new mexico, and check new mexico school choice to see whether a program may help pay for New Mexico history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.