Most Densely Populated Cities in New Mexico: Ranked by People per Square Mile

The densest city in New Mexico in our data is Anthony, NM, with about 3,421 people per square mile, followed by Albuquerque, NM (2,991) and Bernalillo, NM (2,142). This list ranks the top 46 places among the 46 New Mexico communities with at least 5,000 residents.

What are the top 46 in New Mexico?

#	City	County	Per sq mi	Population
1	Anthony, NM	Doña Ana County	3,421	9,239
2	Albuquerque, NM	Bernalillo County	2,991	761,195
3	Bernalillo, NM	Sandoval County	2,142	10,477
4	North Valley, NM	Bernalillo County	1,935	13,449
5	Las Vegas, NM	San Miguel County	1,650	14,662
6	Clovis, NM	Curry County	1,621	42,168
7	Santa Fe, NM	Santa Fe County	1,619	111,269
8	Roswell, NM	Chaves County	1,598	48,889
9	Alamogordo, NM	Otero County	1,494	33,513
10	Hobbs, NM	Lea County	1,481	42,095
11	Portales, NM	Roosevelt County	1,461	11,921
12	South Valley, NM	Bernalillo County	1,380	40,080
13	Sunland Park, NM	Doña Ana County	1,380	17,978
14	Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, NM	Bernalillo County	1,370	6,108
15	Las Cruces, NM	Doña Ana County	1,344	136,254
16	Farmington, NM	San Juan County	1,287	51,309
17	Española, NM	Rio Arriba County	1,287	25,952
18	Los Alamos, NM	Los Alamos County	1,137	12,666
19	Artesia, NM	Eddy County	1,124	13,956
20	Gallup, NM	McKinley County	1,075	22,917
21	Lovington, NM	Lea County	1,010	12,097
22	Taos, NM	Taos County	987	14,196
23	Rio Rancho, NM	Sandoval County	958	99,178
24	Carlsbad, NM	Eddy County	953	34,031
25	Silver City, NM	Grant County	927	11,561
26	Los Lunas, NM	Valencia County	857	69,020
27	Deming, NM	Luna County	829	13,924
28	White Rock, NM	Los Alamos County	813	5,751
29	Corrales, NM	Sandoval County	805	8,696
30	Zuni Pueblo, NM	McKinley County	790	7,001
31	Raton, NM	Colfax County	743	5,938
32	Shiprock, NM	San Juan County	666	9,020
33	Grants, NM	Cibola County	598	11,833
34	Los Chaves, NM	Valencia County	593	6,109
35	Socorro, NM	Socorro County	578	8,348
36	Santa Teresa, NM	Doña Ana County	549	5,515
37	Aztec, NM	San Juan County	505	7,963
38	Ruidoso, NM	Lincoln County	490	9,442
39	Lee Acres, NM	San Juan County	440	5,735
40	Bloomfield, NM	San Juan County	412	9,370
41	Belen, NM	Valencia County	391	7,416
42	Eldorado at Santa Fe, NM	Santa Fe County	280	5,823
43	Chaparral, NM	Doña Ana County	243	14,437
44	North Hobbs, NM	Lea County	241	6,301
45	Truth or Consequences, NM	Sierra County	205	7,035
46	Edgewood, NM	Santa Fe County	106	6,107

How dense are the cities in New Mexico?

The densest place is about 4 times as dense as the median place in the state, which has about 956 people per square mile. At the other end, Edgewood, NM has about 106. Under our scale, 0 places are an urban core (over 5,000 per square mile), 21 are suburban, and the rest are small towns or rural. Doña Ana County contributes 5 of the top 46.

Which counties do the top 46 belong to?

The 46 places on this list are spread across 24 counties of New Mexico. Doña Ana County has 5 (Anthony, Sunland Park, Las Cruces, Santa Teresa, Chaparral); San Juan County has 5 (Farmington, Shiprock, Aztec, Lee Acres, Bloomfield); Bernalillo County has 4 (Albuquerque, North Valley, South Valley, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque). Counties with several entries are usually centers of a metropolitan area, where one large city is surrounded by many suburbs that each pass the 5,000-resident threshold.

How does New Mexico compare with the rest of the country?

The median New Mexico place with a page has about 12,009 residents, compared with about 13,459 nationwide, so the state's typical community is smaller than the national typical place. The state has 425 communities in total, of which 46 reach 5,000 residents. See the national ranking of the largest cities for comparison.

Quick answers about New Mexico cities

Which is the densest city in New Mexico? Anthony (3,421 per square mile).
How many New Mexico cities have more than 100,000 people? 3 in our data.
How many have 25,000 to 100,000? 10.
What is the typical size? About 12,009 residents for a place with a page.

How is this ranking made?

The data comes from the SimpleMaps US Cities Database, which gives each place an estimated population and a density in people per square kilometer. We convert density to people per square mile and rank the places with at least 5,000 residents. Boundaries matter: a city that includes large parks or farmland scores lower on density than a compact city of the same size, and population estimates can include areas that share a city's ZIP codes. Read why population figures differ and how density is calculated before you quote a number.

Where to go next

Largest cities in New Mexico All of New Mexico All ranked lists Compare cities

Rankings use dataset estimates, not official counts.

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