Santa Fe County, NM

County Profile

156,105 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Santa Fe 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.

55out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 35% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,016th of 1,463 counties measured45
Schools717th of 1,377 counties measured49
GrowthTop 35% of 1,453 counties measured59
Housing affordability1,353rd of 1,462 counties measured51
Climate994th of 1,463 counties measured62
Physical resilience842nd of 1,463 counties measured53
AccessTop 3% of 1,463 counties measured99
Economic stabilityTop 47% of 1,463 counties measured63
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.9% and median household income $79,071, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 20% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.1 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 31% of renter income here, at or above the threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, while buying strains owner incomes less — the median home is 4.8 times what its owners earn, against a historic benchmark near three.

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
156,105
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$79,071
Top 19% nationally
Density
82/sq mi
1,910.4 sq mi of land
Median age
48.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Santa Fe County
New Mexico
Metro area
Nearest major airport
SAF
10 mi · Santa Fe Rgnl
Median home value
$446,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.9% — higher than in all but 24% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Unemployment has been rising for 4 consecutive months, most recently 4.9%.

Employment fell 2.0% over the past year, to 69,860 employed residents.

46% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 95% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$93,25590th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$82,27289th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,8202024 ACS 5-Year$79,071Top 19%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,4562024 ACS 5-Year$52,207Top 6%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$78,284Top 10%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.6%Top 39%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.7 minTop 50%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year46.1%Top 5%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year68.1%11th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202669,860Top 31%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.2%Bottom 23%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.0%Bottom 21%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202673,47269th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year77.0%Top 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%83rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.5%Bottom 17%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.9%Bottom 24%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year18.4%94th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.32.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.9% 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

202120222023202479k64k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $79,071 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.

Largest occupations — Santa Fe, NM

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive2,410$50,170
Retail Salespersons2,320$35,960
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,950$30,810
Waiters and Waitresses1,680$46,640
General and Operations Managers1,630$106,770
Home Health and Personal Care Aides1,470$31,540

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

20% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 34% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.1 students for every full-time teacher across 45 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
46
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.1
across 45 of them
Math proficiency
19.8%
Bottom 38% in New Mexico
Reading proficiency
33.8%
Top 44% in New Mexico
The 12 largest of 46 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Santa Fe HighSANTA FE1,49118.010%34%
Capital HighSANTA FE1,38815.65%27%
El Camino Real Academy CommunitySANTA FE70412.47%10%
Nina Otero Community SchoolSANTA FE62913.77%13%
Turquoise Trail Charter School · charterTURQUOISE TRAIL CHARTER SCHOOL62220.137%45%
Estancia Valley Classical Academy · charterESTANCIA VALLEY CLASSICAL ACADEMY56515.339%51%
McCurdy Charter School · charterMCCURDY CHARTER SCHOOL55713.96%15%
Pojoaque HighPOJOAQUE55017.73%28%
Pinon ElementarySANTA FE51315.543%50%
El Dorado Community SchoolSANTA FE43213.138%54%
Ramirez Thomas ElementarySANTA FE41715.429%17%
Edward Ortiz MiddleSANTA FE4169.99%14%

91.7% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 6% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 94.1, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Santa Fe, NM Metro Area is up 42% over five years, and up 4.0% 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 $2,152 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.48% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,685, some 21% above the $1,389 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,685 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $67,400 a year, about 85% of the median household income here of $79,071.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,389 a month.

A median home at $446,300 costs 4.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $93,462, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
94.1

Prices here run about 6% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Santa Fe, NM Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
30.7%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,685
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,389
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$446,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Santa Fe County’s median household income of $79,071, 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
Cost of living indexthe Santa Fe, NM Metro Area’s figure202394.1Top 48%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Santa Fe, NM Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.0%61st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Santa Fe, NM Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+42.0%34th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Santa Fe, NM Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+102.0%65th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year4.8Bottom 5%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year71.5%35th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1342024 ACS 5-Year78,83488th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,390Bottom 19%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,122Bottom 20%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,685Bottom 18%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$582024 ACS 5-Year$1,389Bottom 10%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,3192024 ACS 5-Year$446,30094th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$672024 ACS 5-Year$2,15269th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,8332024 ACS 5-Year$93,462Top 20%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.48%15th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year30.7%Bottom 23%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4832024 ACS 5-Year3,15290th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year4.0%60th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.2%26th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5772024 ACS 5-Year8,06788th 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

59/ 100
Top 35% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in 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 grown 2% since 2020, reaching 157,765 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 495 units authorized in 2025, up 103% on the prior year.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Santa Fe County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $93,255, above the $82,272 of households that moved out.

At 3.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
555
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.6
Top 41% nationally
Year over year
+143%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
50.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024158k155k
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 rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
65%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$93,255
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$82,272
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Bernalillo County, NM 855 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Rio Arriba County, NM 382 people · 5.6% of arrivals
  3. Sandoval County, NM 246 people · 3.6% of arrivals
  4. Los Alamos County, NM 206 people · 3.0% of arrivals
  5. Los Angeles County, CA 157 people · 2.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Bernalillo County, NM 1,123 people · 17% of departures
  2. Sandoval County, NM 559 people · 8.3% of departures
  3. Rio Arriba County, NM 383 people · 5.7% of departures
  4. San Miguel County, NM 190 people · 2.8% of departures
  5. Los Alamos County, NM 181 people · 2.7% 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

202020212022202320242025939244
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−18%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 20°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 10.7 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 45, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SANTA FE CO MUNI AP, 10.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND2.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year712024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals10.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals20°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year452024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals41°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
45
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
71
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

53 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 56% 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.

WildfireHigh
EarthquakeElevated
DroughtModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, lightning, inland flooding, hail, heat wave, cold wave, avalanche, strong wind, tornado, ice storm, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, tsunami, hurricane.

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.

Santa Fe County has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.0 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 12.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 67.3 per 100,000 residents in Santa Fe County.

Homicide
5.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.2
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
67.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.0
per 100,000 residents

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 Santa Fe 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.
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. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Santa Fe Rgnl at 10 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year90.1%Top 25%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle10 miTop 10%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 26%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year7.7%Top 29%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Santa Fe RgnlSAF10 mi8,366 ft
Las Vegas MuniLVS47 mi8,199 ft
Albuquerque Intl SunportABQ49 mi13,793 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
55
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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
Housing, 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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.