Map of the United States with New Mexico highlighted
Map of the United States with New Mexico highlighted

New Mexico is a state located in the Western United States. According to the 2020 United States Census, New Mexico is the 15th least-populous state with 2,117,522 inhabitants[1] but the 5th-largest by land area, spanning 121,298.15 square miles (314,160.8 km2).[2] New Mexico is divided into 33 counties and contains 106 municipalities consisting of cities, towns, villages and an incorporated county.[3] New Mexico's municipalities cover only 1% of the state's land mass but are home to 65.4% of its population.[2]

All municipalities are granted local government powers including the collection of property tax, funding of fire protection and public transit, providing and maintaining public parks, cemeteries, hospitals, libraries, and museums, building and zoning regulations, and the maintenance of municipal water, sewer, electric, natural gas and solid waste utilities.[4] Municipalities in New Mexico may adopt one of five forms of municipal government including Mayor-Council, Mayor-Council with Manager, Council-Manager, Commission-Manager, or City-County Council-Manager. All municipalities over 10,000 people must elect their representatives by district, with those under 10,000 having option to do so.[5] Citizens in a Mayor-Council form of government elect a mayor (who only votes to break a tie, and does not have veto power), and a council of 4 to 10 councilors or trustees. Any municipality with a population over 1,000 with a Mayor/Council form of government may establish the office of manager who is not elected and administers the hiring and firing of municipal employees, enforces ordinances, prepares the budget, but cannot vote on council.[5] The manager in a Commission/Manager municipality has identical powers to the manager in the Mayor/Council form of government.[5] Mayor-Council system can be changed to a Commission/Manager municipality by popular vote if the population exceeds 3,000. Citizens in a Commission/Manager municipality may also vote on initiatives, referendums and recalls and the mayor has the right to vote on council issues.[5] Only one municipality, Los Alamos, is an incorporated City-County with a Council-Manager system through the Los Alamos County Charter.[6] Municipalities may also adopt a home rule charter which gives local municipalities powers not specifically authorized for municipalities by the state statutes.[5] Twelve municipalities have adopted home rule or a charter in New Mexico.[7]

The largest municipality by population in New Mexico is Albuquerque with 564,559 residents or approximately 26.7% of the state population.[1] The smallest municipality by population is Grenville with 22 residents.[1] The largest municipality by land area is also Albuquerque which spans 187.73 sq mi (486.2 km2), while Virden is the smallest at 0.22 sq mi (0.57 km2).[2]

List of municipalities

‡  State capital and county seat

†  County seat

§  Home rule or chartered

Name Type[2] Government type[7] County(ies)[2] Population
(2020)[1] 		Population
(2010)[2] 		Change Land area
(2020)[8] 		Population density
sq mi km2
Alamogordo† City Commission–Manager § Otero 30,898 30,403 +1.6% 21.39 55.4 1,444.5/sq mi (557.7/km2)
Albuquerque† City Mayor–Council § Bernalillo 564,559 545,852 +3.4% 187.27 485.0 3,014.7/sq mi (1,164.0/km2)
Angel Fire Village Mayor–Council Colfax 1,192 1,216 −2.0% 28.81 74.6 41.4/sq mi (16.0/km2)
Anthony[a] City Mayor–Council Doña Ana 8,693 9,360 −7.1% 2.70 7.0 3,219.6/sq mi (1,243.1/km2)
Artesia City Mayor–Council Eddy 12,875 11,301 +13.9% 11.33 29.3 1,136.4/sq mi (438.8/km2)
Aztec† City Commission–Manager San Juan 6,201 6,763 −8.3% 17.06 44.2 363.5/sq mi (140.3/km2)
Bayard City Mayor–Council Grant 2,116 2,328 −9.1% 0.95 2.5 2,227.4/sq mi (860.0/km2)
Belen City Mayor–Council with Manager Valencia 7,360 7,269 +1.3% 18.96 49.1 388.2/sq mi (149.9/km2)
Bernalillo† Town Mayor–Council Sandoval 8,977 8,320 +7.9% 4.89 12.7 1,835.8/sq mi (708.8/km2)
Bloomfield City Mayor–Council San Juan 7,421 8,112 −8.5% 18.55 48.0 400.1/sq mi (154.5/km2)
Bosque Farms Village Mayor–Council Valencia 4,020 3,904 +3.0% 3.94 10.2 1,020.3/sq mi (393.9/km2)
Capitan Village Mayor–Council Lincoln 1,391 1,489 −6.6% 3.26 8.4 405.2/sq mi (156.5/km2)
Carlsbad† City Mayor–Council with Manager Eddy 32,238 26,138 +23.3% 31.52 81.6 1,022.8/sq mi (394.9/km2)
Carrizozo† Town Mayor–Council Lincoln 972 996 −2.4% 8.36 21.7 116.3/sq mi (44.9/km2)
Causey Village Mayor–Council Roosevelt 68 104 −34.6% 3.75 9.7 18.1/sq mi (7.0/km2)
Chama Village Mayor–Council Rio Arriba 917 1,022 −10.3% 2.59 6.7 354.1/sq mi (136.7/km2)
Cimarron Village Mayor–Council Colfax 792 1,021 −22.4% 2.12 5.5 373.6/sq mi (144.2/km2)
Clayton† Town Mayor–Council with Manager Union 2,643 2,980 −11.3% 7.77 20.1 340.2/sq mi (131.3/km2)
Cloudcroft Village Mayor–Council Otero 750 674 +11.3% 1.64 4.2 457.3/sq mi (176.6/km2)
Clovis† City Commission–Manager § Curry 38,567 37,775 +2.1% 23.63 61.2 1,632.1/sq mi (630.2/km2)
Columbus Village Mayor–Council Luna 1,442 1,664 −13.3% 4.67 12.1 308.8/sq mi (119.2/km2)
Corona Village Mayor–Council Lincoln 129 172 −25.0% 1.03 2.7 125.2/sq mi (48.4/km2)
Corrales Village Mayor–Council Sandoval 8,493 8,329 +2.0% 10.79 27.9 787.1/sq mi (303.9/km2)
Cuba Village Mayor–Council Sandoval 628 731 −14.1% 3.26 8.4 192.6/sq mi (74.4/km2)
Deming† City Mayor–Council with Manager Luna 14,758 14,855 −0.7% 16.72 43.3 882.7/sq mi (340.8/km2)
Des Moines Village Mayor–Council Union 117 143 −18.2% 0.87 2.3 134.5/sq mi (51.9/km2)
Dexter Town Mayor–Council Chaves 1,074 1,266 −15.2% 0.73 1.9 1,471.2/sq mi (568.0/km2)
Dora Village Mayor–Council Roosevelt 117 133 −12.0% 2.63 6.8 44.5/sq mi (17.2/km2)
Eagle Nest Village Mayor–Council Colfax 315 290 +8.6% 4.48 11.6 70.3/sq mi (27.1/km2)
Edgewood Town Commission-Manager Santa Fe 6,174 3,735 +65.3% 56.80 147.1 108.7/sq mi (42.0/km2)
Elephant Butte City Mayor–Council Sierra 1,447 1,431 +1.1% 4.18 10.8 346.2/sq mi (133.7/km2)
Elida Town Mayor–Council Roosevelt 166 197 −15.7% 1.02 2.6 162.7/sq mi (62.8/km2)
Encino Village Mayor–Council Torrance 51 82 −37.8% 1.99 5.2 25.6/sq mi (9.9/km2)
Espanola City Mayor–Council with Manager Rio Arriba
Santa Fe		 10,526 10,224 +3.0% 8.22 21.3 1,280.5/sq mi (494.4/km2)
Estancia† Town Mayor–Council Torrance 1,242 1,655 −25.0% 6.17 16.0 201.3/sq mi (77.7/km2)
Eunice City Mayor–Council Lea 3,056 2,562 +19.3% 4.09 10.6 747.2/sq mi (288.5/km2)
Farmington City Mayor–Council with Manager San Juan 46,624 45,877 +1.6% 34.46 89.3 1,353.0/sq mi (522.4/km2)
Floyd Village Mayor–Council Roosevelt 86 133 −35.3% 3.05 7.9 28.2/sq mi (10.9/km2)
Folsom Village Mayor–Council Union 51 56 −8.9% 0.65 1.7 78.5/sq mi (30.3/km2)
Fort Sumner† Village Mayor–Council De Baca 889 1,031 −13.8% 3.32 8.6 267.8/sq mi (103.4/km2)
Gallup† City Mayor–Council with Manager § McKinley 21,899 21,678 +1.0% 20.19 52.3 1,084.6/sq mi (418.8/km2)
Grady Village Mayor–Council Curry 86 107 −19.6% 0.27 0.70 318.5/sq mi (123.0/km2)
Grants† City Mayor–Council with Manager § Cibola 9,163 9,182 −0.2% 14.91 38.6 614.6/sq mi (237.3/km2)
Grenville Village Mayor–Council Union 22 38 −42.1% 0.38 0.98 57.9/sq mi (22.4/km2)
Hagerman Town Mayor–Council Chaves 975 1,257 −22.4% 1.36 3.5 716.9/sq mi (276.8/km2)
Hatch Village Mayor–Council Doña Ana 1,539 1,648 −6.6% 3.01 7.8 511.3/sq mi (197.4/km2)
Hobbs City Commission–Manager § Lea 40,508 34,122 +18.7% 26.40 68.4 1,534.4/sq mi (592.4/km2)
Hope Village Mayor–Council Eddy 113 105 +7.6% 1.22 3.2 92.6/sq mi (35.8/km2)
House Village Mayor–Council Quay 56 68 −17.6% 0.91 2.4 61.5/sq mi (23.8/km2)
Hurley Town Mayor–Council Grant 1,256 1,297 −3.2% 1.02 2.6 1,231.4/sq mi (475.4/km2)
Jal City Mayor–Council Lea 2,202 2,047 +7.6% 4.82 12.5 456.8/sq mi (176.4/km2)
Jemez Springs Village Mayor–Council Sandoval 198 250 −20.8% 4.80 12.4 41.3/sq mi (15.9/km2)
Kirtland[b] Town Mayor–Council San Juan 585[11] 1.7 4.4[12] 344.1/sq mi (132.9/km2)
Lake Arthur Town Mayor–Council Chaves 378 436 −13.3% 0.53 1.4 713.2/sq mi (275.4/km2)
Las Cruces† City Council–Manager § Doña Ana 111,385 97,618 +14.1% 76.93 199.2 1,447.9/sq mi (559.0/km2)
Las Vegas† City Mayor–Council with Manager § San Miguel 13,166 13,753 −4.3% 7.82 20.3 1,683.6/sq mi (650.1/km2)
Logan Village Mayor–Council Quay 970 1,042 −6.9% 10.60 27.5 91.5/sq mi (35.3/km2)
Lordsburg† City Mayor–Council Hidalgo 2,335 2,797 −16.5% 8.43 21.8 277.0/sq mi (106.9/km2)
Los Alamos County

City–County
(Council–Manager) §

Los Alamos 19,419 17,950 +8.2% 109.17 282.7 177.9/sq mi (68.7/km2)
Los Lunas† Village Mayor–Council Valencia 17,242 14,835 +16.2% 18.73 48.5 920.6/sq mi (355.4/km2)
Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Village Mayor–Council Bernalillo 5,874 6,024 −2.5% 4.45 11.5 1,320.0/sq mi (509.7/km2)
Loving Village Mayor–Council Eddy 1,390 1,413 −1.6% 1.21 3.1 1,148.8/sq mi (443.5/km2)
Lovington† City Commission–Manager Lea 11,668 11,009 +6.0% 11.20 29.0 1,041.8/sq mi (402.2/km2)
Magdalena Village Mayor–Council Socorro 806 938 −14.1% 6.22 16.1 129.6/sq mi (50.0/km2)
Maxwell Village Mayor–Council Colfax 224 254 −11.8% 0.47 1.2 476.6/sq mi (184.0/km2)
Melrose Village Mayor–Council Curry 622 651 −4.5% 1.69 4.4 368.0/sq mi (142.1/km2)
Mesilla Town Mayor–Council Doña Ana 1,797 2,196 −18.2% 5.68 14.7 316.4/sq mi (122.2/km2)
Milan Village Mayor–Council Cibola 2,456 3,245 −24.3% 4.34 11.2 565.9/sq mi (218.5/km2)
Moriarty City Mayor–Council Torrance 1,946 1,910 +1.9% 6.94 18.0 280.4/sq mi (108.3/km2)
Mosquero† Village Mayor–Council Harding
San Miguel		 98 93 +5.4% 1.00 2.6 98.0/sq mi (37.8/km2)
Mountainair Town Mayor–Council Torrance 884 928 −4.7% 1.58 4.1 559.5/sq mi (216.0/km2)
Pecos Village Mayor–Council San Miguel 1,392 1,392 0.0% 1.78 4.6 782.0/sq mi (301.9/km2)
Peralta[c] Town Mayor–Council Valencia 3,342 3,660 −8.7% 4.44 11.5 752.7/sq mi (290.6/km2)
Portales† City Mayor–Council with Manager Roosevelt 12,137 12,280 −1.2% 7.95 20.6 1,526.7/sq mi (589.4/km2)
Questa Village Mayor–Council Taos 1,742 1,770 −1.6% 5.11 13.2 340.9/sq mi (131.6/km2)
Raton† City Commission–Manager Colfax 6,041 6,885 −12.3% 7.96 20.6 758.9/sq mi (293.0/km2)
Red River Town Mayor–Council Taos 542 477 +13.6% 1.02 2.6 531.4/sq mi (205.2/km2)
Reserve† Village Mayor–Council Catron 293 289 +1.4% 0.56 1.5 523.2/sq mi (202.0/km2)
Rio Communities[d][15] City Mayor–Council Valencia 4,926 7.7 20= 639.7/sq mi (247.0/km2)
Rio Rancho City Mayor–Council with Manager § Bernalillo
Sandoval		 104,026 87,521 +18.9% 103.36 267.7 1,006.4/sq mi (388.6/km2)
Roswell† City Mayor–Council with Manager Chaves 48,422 48,366 +0.1% 29.72 77.0 1,629.3/sq mi (629.1/km2)
Roy Village Mayor–Council Harding 193 234 −17.5% 2.04 5.3 94.6/sq mi (36.5/km2)
Ruidoso Village Mayor–Council with Manager Lincoln 7,679 8,029 −4.4% 16.13 41.8 476.1/sq mi (183.8/km2)
Ruidoso Downs City Mayor–Council Lincoln 2,620 2,815 −6.9% 3.79 9.8 691.3/sq mi (266.9/km2)
San Jon Village Mayor–Council Quay 195 216 −9.7% 2.93 7.6 66.6/sq mi (25.7/km2)
San Ysidro Village Mayor–Council Sandoval 166 193 −14.0% 2.34 6.1 70.9/sq mi (27.4/km2)
Santa Clara Village Mayor–Council Grant 1,637 1,686 −2.9% 1.99 5.2 822.6/sq mi (317.6/km2)
Santa Fe‡ City Mayor–Council with Manager § Santa Fe 87,505 67,947 +28.8% 52.23 135.3 1,675.4/sq mi (646.9/km2)
Santa Rosa† City Mayor–Council Guadalupe 2,850 2,848 +0.1% 5.00 12.9 570.0/sq mi (220.1/km2)
Silver City† Town Mayor–Council with Manager § Grant 9,704 10,315 −5.9% 10.12 26.2 958.9/sq mi (370.2/km2)
Socorro† City Mayor–Council Socorro 8,707 9,051 −3.8% 14.45 37.4 602.6/sq mi (232.6/km2)
Springer Town Mayor–Council Colfax 931 1,047 −11.1% 2.20 5.7 423.2/sq mi (163.4/km2)
Sunland Park City Mayor–Council Doña Ana 16,702 14,106 +18.4% 13.58 35.2 1,229.9/sq mi (474.9/km2)
Taos† Town Mayor–Council with Manager Taos 6,474 5,716 +13.3% 6.02 15.6 1,075.4/sq mi (415.2/km2)
Taos Ski Valley Village Mayor–Council Taos 77 69 +11.6% 2.85 7.4 27.0/sq mi (10.4/km2)
Tatum Town Mayor–Council Lea 706 798 −11.5% 1.59 4.1 444.0/sq mi (171.4/km2)
Texico City Mayor–Council Curry 956 1,130 −15.4% 0.83 2.1 1,151.8/sq mi (444.7/km2)
Tijeras Village Mayor–Council Bernalillo 465 541 −14.0% 1.13 2.9 411.5/sq mi (158.9/km2)
Truth or Consequences† City Commission–Manager Sierra 6,052 6,475 −6.5% 28.00 72.5 216.1/sq mi (83.5/km2)
Tucumcari† City Commission–Manager Quay 5,278 5,363 −1.6% 9.51 24.6 555.0/sq mi (214.3/km2)
Tularosa Village Mayor–Council Otero 2,553 2,842 −10.2% 2.82 7.3 905.3/sq mi (349.5/km2)
Vaughn Town Mayor–Council Guadalupe 286 446 −35.9% 5.60 14.5 51.1/sq mi (19.7/km2)
Virden Village Mayor–Council Hidalgo 126 152 −17.1% 0.21 0.54 600.0/sq mi (231.7/km2)
Wagon Mound Village Mayor–Council Mora 266 314 −15.3% 1.01 2.6 263.4/sq mi (101.7/km2)
Willard Village Mayor–Council Torrance 201 253 −20.6% 0.92 2.4 218.5/sq mi (84.4/km2)
Williamsburg Village Mayor–Council Sierra 462 449 +2.9% 0.49 1.3 942.9/sq mi (364.0/km2)
Total municipalities – – – 1,446,366 1,347,159 +7.4% 1,275.58 3,303.7 1,133.9/sq mi (437.8/km2)
New Mexico – – – 2,117,522 2,059,179 +2.8%[16] 121,298.15 314,160.8 17.5/sq mi (6.7/km2)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The city incorporated on July 1, 2010, and is thus not represented in the 2010 Census as a city, but only as a census designated place. The populations and area for the Anthony CDP is included here, but not in the totals.[9]
  2. ^ The town incorporated on January 6, 2015, and is thus not represented in the 2010 Census.[10]
  3. ^ The town incorporated on July 1, 2007, and is thus not represented in the 2010 Census.[13]
  4. ^ The city incorporated May 16, 2013, and is thus not represented in the 2010 Census.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "GCT-PH1 – Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 – State – Place and (in selected states) County Subdivision". 2010 United States Census. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  3. ^ "Forms of Municipal Government in New Mexico" (PDF). New Mexico Municipal League. 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  4. ^ "Additional Powers of Any Municipality" (PDF). New Mexico Municipal League. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Forms of Municipal Government in New Mexico" (PDF). New Mexico Municipal League. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  6. ^ "Los Alamos County Code of Ordinance". Part I - Charter, Article I. 101. - Powers of County, Order No. 558, § 1 of June 23, 2010. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  7. ^ a b "New Mexico Municipal Government" (PDF). New Mexico Municipal League. 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  8. ^ "Places". 2020 Gazetteer Files. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  9. ^ "About Us – City of Anthony". City of Anthony NM. 2018. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  10. ^ "Kirtland voters approve town incorporation". Albuquerque Journal. Associated Press. January 7, 2015. Archived from the original on October 30, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  11. ^ Search Results
  12. ^ Explore Census Data
  13. ^ "2000-2010 Entity Changes" (txt). 2010 United States Census. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  14. ^ "History of our City". City of Rio Communities. 2014. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  15. ^ Explore Census Data
  16. ^ "Change in Resident Population of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico: 1910 to 2020" (PDF). Census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
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