2025

Counties in New Mexico ranked by Native American Population

This list ranks the 32 counties in New Mexico based on their American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these counties over the past five years.
Updated Feb 10, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest Native American population in New Mexico

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  • 1
    McKinley County
    Native American population in McKinley County is 57,525
    76.04% of McKinley County population is Native American
  • 2
    San Juan County
    Native American population in San Juan County is 52,080
    39.18% of San Juan County population is Native American
  • 3
    Bernalillo County
    Native American population in Bernalillo County is 51,915
    6.22% of Bernalillo County population is Native American
  • 4
    Sandoval County
    Native American population in Sandoval County is 23,689
    12.90% of Sandoval County population is Native American
  • 5
    Cibola County
    Native American population in Cibola County is 12,778
    40.74% of Cibola County population is Native American

List of 32 counties in New Mexico by Native American Population

View Methodology
Rank by Native American Population
County
Native American Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total New Mexico Native American Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 McKinley County 57,525 76.04% 22.78%
2 San Juan County 52,080 39.18% 20.63%
3 Bernalillo County 51,915 6.22% 20.56%
4 Sandoval County 23,689 12.90% 9.38%
5 Cibola County 12,778 40.74% 5.06%
6 Santa Fe County 8,238 4.36% 3.26%
7 Rio Arriba County 7,830 15.77% 3.10%
8 6,401 2.29% 2.54%
9 5,856 5.87% 2.32%
10 5,821 7.05% 2.31%
11 2,904 6.93% 1.15%
12 2,175 10.37% 0.86%
13 2,118 2.83% 0.84%
14 1,762 2.27% 0.70%
15 1,557 2.84% 0.62%
16 1,492 4.40% 0.59%
17 1,197 1.25% 0.47%
18 1,001 2.90% 0.40%
19 844 4.71% 0.33%
20 843 3.52% 0.33%
21 784 5.20% 0.31%
22 713 3.14% 0.28%
23 662 1.96% 0.26%
24 593 5.58% 0.23%
25 538 4.03% 0.21%
26 400 7.18% 0.16%
27 284 5.81% 0.11%
28 187 4.67% 0.07%
29 156 2.97% 0.06%
30 131 2.53% 0.05%
31 5 0.57% -
32 2 0.11% -

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks counties in New Mexico by their American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Native American Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as Native American, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as Native American alone, while others identify as Native American along with another race (such as Native American and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Native American .
  • We’ve used the “Native American alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Native American population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Native American alone or in combination in counties. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total County Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Native American .
  2. % of Total New Mexico Native American Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Native American population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Native American populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • Counties that don’t have any reported Native American population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Native American populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.