Sierra County, New Mexico

Sierra County population, land area and income

Sierra County had 11,389 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 4,181.2 square miles of land. It ranks 25th of 33 in New Mexico by population and 12th by land area. That works out to 2.7 people per square mile, below the US average of 96.3, and in the bottom quarter nationally.

The median county-equivalent in New Mexico has 26,428 residents, so Sierra County has 43% of the typical county's population.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $40,498 is in the bottom quarter among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Sierra County's population changed since 2020

Sierra County lost 176 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a drop of 1.5%. That ranks 20th of 33 in New Mexico for growth. The median New Mexico county changed by -1.3%, and the state as a whole by +0.5%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Sierra County recorded 350 births and 1,169 deaths, a natural change of -819. Net international migration added +6 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to +628. The largest single component was natural change, which removed 819 people.

Where Sierra County is

The Census internal point of Sierra County is at 33.119500, -107.188200. It sits in UTM zone 13N. The map shades New Mexico's 33 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Sierra County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Sierra County

2 incorporated places of 1,000+ people have residents in Sierra County, 7,381 people together, or 65% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside Sierra County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Truth or Consequences with 5,942.

Counties bordering Sierra County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 7 neighbors for Sierra County. The most populous is Doña Ana County, NM, with 229,366 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Doña Ana County

  229,366 people

  57 mi SSE

• Otero County

  69,711 people

  90 mi ESE

• Grant County

  27,541 people

  74 mi WSW

• Luna County

  25,878 people

  72 mi SSW

• Lincoln County

  20,025 people

  109 mi ENE

• Socorro County

  15,967 people

  62 mi NNE

• Catron County

  3,795 people

  88 mi NW

Distance to Santa Fe and the nearest big city

Santa Fe is 190.8 miles NNE of Sierra County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Las Cruces, NM (population 116,998), 59.5 miles away.

Sierra County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Sierra County is 35051: state code 35 for New Mexico plus county code 051. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $40,498.