Curry County, NM

County Profile

47,638 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Curry County, NM.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

47out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 11% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,338th of 1,463 counties measured29
SchoolsTop 16% of 1,377 counties measured77
Growth1,412th of 1,453 counties measured16
Housing affordabilityTop 48% of 1,462 counties measured74
ClimateTop 50% of 1,463 counties measured68
Physical resilience958th of 1,463 counties measured48
Access1,423rd of 1,463 counties measured11
Economic stability1,237th of 1,463 counties measured31
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 4.7% and the Opportunity signal places Curry County in the bottom 9%.

Public schools test above most of the state: 27% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 16% of published profiles for schools.

Residential permitting has slowed: 68 units authorized over the past twelve months, 39% below the prior year.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
47,638
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$57,309
Bottom 28% nationally
Density
34/sq mi
1,405.5 sq mi of land
Median age
31.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Curry County
New Mexico
Micro area
Nearest major airport
AMA
103 mi · Rick Husband Amarillo Intl
Median home value
$171,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.7% — higher than in all but 29% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Unemployment has been rising for 4 consecutive months, most recently 4.7%.

Employment fell 2.2% over the past year, to 20,126 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$48,08416th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$53,49335th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,6842024 ACS 5-Year$57,309Bottom 28%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,8572024 ACS 5-Year$29,608Bottom 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$56,355Top 50%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year20.7%Bottom 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.2 minTop 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year23.3%Top 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year81.8%80th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202620,126Bottom 32%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.5%Bottom 21%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.2%Bottom 18%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202621,12432nd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.9%Top 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%51st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.5%Bottom 17%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.7%Bottom 29%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year3.7%8th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.52.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.7% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 4 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202457k51k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $57,309 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

27% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 38% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.2 students for every full-time teacher across 24 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
25
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.2
across 24 of them
Math proficiency
26.5%
Top 19% in New Mexico
Reading proficiency
37.9%
Top 19% in New Mexico
The 12 largest of 25 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Clovis HighCLOVIS1,50617.921%48%
W D Gattis Middle SchoolCLOVIS52714.622%31%
Marshall 6th Grade AcademyCLOVIS51111.918%35%
La Casita ElementaryCLOVIS48416.112%27%
Clovis HS Freshman AcademyCLOVIS48213.432%39%
Yucca MiddleCLOVIS48017.822%27%
Arts Academy at Bella VistaCLOVIS44415.327%32%
Zia ElementaryCLOVIS39815.357%46%
Mesa ElementaryCLOVIS38913.948%50%
Parkview ElementaryCLOVIS38913.017%17%
Lockwood ElementaryCLOVIS37815.817%22%
Barry ElementaryCLOVIS35714.937%32%

84.6% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against New Mexico’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of New Mexico is up 37% over five years, and up 1.3% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,017 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.59% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,098, close to the $1,024 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,098 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $43,900 a year, about 77% of the median household income here of $57,309.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,024 a month.

A median home at $171,200 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $72,148, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
29.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,098
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,024
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$171,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Curry County’s median household income of $57,309, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of New Mexico’s figure2026 Q2+1.3%15th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of New Mexico’s figure2026 Q2+36.8%21st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of New Mexico’s figure2026 Q2+75.6%23rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.4Top 43%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year62.7%11th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±432024 ACS 5-Year21,42667th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$892Top 41%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,425Top 40%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,098Top 40%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$832024 ACS 5-Year$1,024Bottom 29%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,1182024 ACS 5-Year$171,20045th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$932024 ACS 5-Year$1,01725th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,6282024 ACS 5-Year$72,148Bottom 40%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.59%28th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year29.3%Bottom 34%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1592024 ACS 5-Year26142nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.2%30th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year12.0%69th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4842024 ACS 5-Year2,83164th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

16/ 100
Ranks 1,412 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 3% since 2020, to 47,156 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 68 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Curry County lost about 1.1% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $48,084, below the $53,493 of households that moved out.

At 1.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
68
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.4
Bottom 26% nationally
Year over year
−39%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202448k47k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−1.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
81%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$48,084
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$53,493
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Roosevelt County, NM 253 people · 8.1% of arrivals
  2. Okaloosa County, FL 184 people · 5.9% of arrivals
  3. Santa Rosa County, FL 119 people · 3.8% of arrivals
  4. Bernalillo County, NM 101 people · 3.2% of arrivals
  5. Parmer County, TX 88 people · 2.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Roosevelt County, NM 299 people · 8.4% of departures
  2. Lubbock County, TX 166 people · 4.6% of departures
  3. Okaloosa County, FL 130 people · 3.6% of departures
  4. Clark County, NV 118 people · 3.3% of departures
  5. Bernalillo County, NM 106 people · 3.0% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202520562
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−44%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 22°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 17.6 inches, including 8.6 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CLOVIS 13 N, 7.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals17.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals8.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals22°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals40°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

48 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, drought and wildfire, with inland flooding alone responsible for 31% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

DroughtElevated
WildfireHigh
Winter weatherModerate
HailElevated
Heat waveModerate
TornadoElevated
Strong windModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, inland flooding, cold wave, ice storm, earthquake, volcanic activity, landslide, hurricane, coastal flooding, tsunami, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Curry County has a modeled homicide rate of about 11.2 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 29.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 36.0 per 100,000 residents in Curry County.

Homicide
11.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
29.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
36.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
19.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Curry County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

No airport meeting the AreaProfile major-airport definition lies within 100 miles; the nearest is 103 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year89.2%Top 32%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle103 miBottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.0%Top 40%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rick Husband Amarillo IntlAMA103 mi13,502 ft
Lubbock Preston Smith IntlLBB108 mi11,500 ft
Roswell Air CenterROW111 mi13,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
47
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Curry County, NM