Capitan vs Ruidoso Downs

A side-by-side comparison of Capitan and Ruidoso Downs: population, income, housing, and more.

Capitan and Ruidoso Downs are places in New Mexico. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Ruidoso Downs has the higher population (2,629 vs 1,262 in Capitan). Capitan has the higher median household income ($50,299 vs $31,413 in Ruidoso Downs). Capitan has the higher median home value ($128,800 vs $55,400 in Ruidoso Downs).

Population, income & housing

	Capitan	Ruidoso Downs
Population	1,262	2,629
Median age	52.2 yrs	35.3 yrs
Median household income	$50,299	$31,413
Median home value	$128,800	$55,400
Median gross rent	$914	$826
Housing units	812	1,347
Homeownership rate	93.8%	69.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.2%	10.5%
Unemployment rate	3.3%	5.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Capitan	Ruidoso Downs
Population	1,518 → 1,262 (-16.9%)	2,573 → 2,629 (+2.2%)
Median household income	$42,589 → $50,299 (+18.1%)	$28,646 → $31,413 (+9.7%)
Median home value	$152,900 → $128,800 (-15.8%)	$130,900 → $55,400 (-57.7%)
Median gross rent	$795 → $914 (+15.0%)	$522 → $826 (+58.2%)

Capitan

Population

1,5181,262

Median household income

$42,589$50,299

Median home value

$152,900$128,800

Median gross rent

$795$914

Ruidoso Downs

Population

2,5732,629

Median household income

$28,646$31,413

Median home value

$130,900$55,400

Median gross rent

$522$826

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Capitan	Ruidoso Downs
Under 5	2.2%	6.1%
5 to 17	19.8%	15.6%
18 to 24	5.1%	9.6%
25 to 34	4.8%	18.0%
35 to 44	9.8%	9.5%
45 to 54	8.9%	7.0%
55 to 64	21.2%	8.4%
65 to 74	20.0%	16.3%
75 and over	8.1%	9.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Capitan	Ruidoso Downs
White (non-Hispanic)	63.5%	35.5%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.3%	2.7%
Asian	0.0%	0.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	1.7%	1.0%
Hispanic or Latino	33.5%	60.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Capitan	Ruidoso Downs
No high school diploma	3.8%	15.3%
High school graduate	37.2%	49.4%
Some college or associate's	38.8%	24.7%
Bachelor's degree	11.5%	3.0%
Graduate or professional degree	8.7%	7.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Capitan	Ruidoso Downs
Drove alone	80.5%	81.9%
Carpooled	11.8%	8.3%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.9%	0.4%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.9%	0.0%
Other means	0.0%	9.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Capitan	Ruidoso Downs
1-unit, detached	31.7%	12.1%
1-unit, attached	1.8%	6.7%
2 to 4 units	4.1%	4.2%
5 to 19 units	2.8%	5.7%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	59.6%	71.3%

Poverty & households

	Capitan	Ruidoso Downs
Poverty rate	11.4%	29.1%
Average household size	2.15	2.55
Mean commute (minutes)	27	21
Median year structure built	1988	1990