Alamosa County vs Otero County

A side-by-side comparison of Alamosa County and Otero County: population, income, housing, and more.

Alamosa County and Otero County are counties in Colorado. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Otero County has the higher population (18,460 vs 16,515 in Alamosa County). Otero County has the higher median household income ($54,897 vs $51,445 in Alamosa County). Alamosa County has the higher median home value ($218,800 vs $160,700 in Otero County).

Population, income & housing

	Alamosa County	Otero County
Population	16,515	18,460
Median age	33.1 yrs	40.9 yrs
Median household income	$51,445	$54,897
Median home value	$218,800	$160,700
Median gross rent	$904	$796
Housing units	7,148	8,725
Homeownership rate	56.4%	68.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	29.3%	18.8%
Unemployment rate	2.5%	4.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Alamosa County	Otero County
Population	16,107 → 16,515 (+2.5%)	18,282 → 18,460 (+1.0%)
Median household income	$37,515 → $51,445 (+37.1%)	$38,169 → $54,897 (+43.8%)
Median home value	$157,500 → $218,800 (+38.9%)	$94,900 → $160,700 (+69.3%)
Median gross rent	$700 → $904 (+29.1%)	$675 → $796 (+17.9%)

Alamosa County

Population

16,10716,515

Median household income

$37,515$51,445

Median home value

$157,500$218,800

Median gross rent

$700$904

Otero County

Population

18,28218,460

Median household income

$38,169$54,897

Median home value

$94,900$160,700

Median gross rent

$675$796

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Alamosa County	Otero County
Under 5	5.8%	5.8%
5 to 17	17.8%	17.6%
18 to 24	15.9%	8.3%
25 to 34	13.7%	11.2%
35 to 44	13.4%	12.4%
45 to 54	8.2%	10.5%
55 to 64	10.5%	13.1%
65 to 74	9.5%	12.3%
75 and over	5.3%	8.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Alamosa County	Otero County
White (non-Hispanic)	45.8%	52.2%
Black or African American	1.7%	1.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.1%	0.4%
Asian	0.4%	0.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.2%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	1.3%
Two or more races	2.6%	2.7%
Hispanic or Latino	47.8%	41.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Alamosa County	Otero County
No high school diploma	10.9%	10.8%
High school graduate	25.2%	32.0%
Some college or associate's	34.6%	38.4%
Bachelor's degree	17.7%	11.9%
Graduate or professional degree	11.6%	6.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Alamosa County	Otero County
Drove alone	76.5%	78.0%
Carpooled	13.4%	10.9%
Public transit	0.1%	0.0%
Walked	4.9%	4.0%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.0%
Worked from home	3.9%	5.6%
Other means	1.1%	1.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Alamosa County	Otero County
1-unit, detached	63.9%	77.6%
1-unit, attached	1.9%	0.6%
2 to 4 units	9.9%	4.5%
5 to 19 units	11.5%	4.9%
20 or more units	2.1%	4.0%
Mobile home & other	10.6%	8.3%

Poverty & households

	Alamosa County	Otero County
Poverty rate	18.2%	23.6%
Average household size	2.37	2.35
Mean commute (minutes)	16	21
Median year structure built	1984	1957