Cibola County vs Rio Arriba County

A side-by-side comparison of Cibola County and Rio Arriba County: population, income, housing, and more.

Cibola County and Rio Arriba County are counties in New Mexico. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Rio Arriba County has the higher population (40,165 vs 27,059 in Cibola County). Rio Arriba County has the higher median household income ($53,901 vs $51,765 in Cibola County). Rio Arriba County has the higher median home value ($230,900 vs $120,000 in Cibola County).

Population, income & housing

	Cibola County	Rio Arriba County
Population	27,059	40,165
Median age	38.4 yrs	42.4 yrs
Median household income	$51,765	$53,901
Median home value	$120,000	$230,900
Median gross rent	$724	$760
Housing units	11,171	19,703
Homeownership rate	70.5%	78.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.8%	18.8%
Unemployment rate	8.5%	5.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Cibola County	Rio Arriba County
Population	26,891 → 27,059 (+0.6%)	39,159 → 40,165 (+2.6%)
Median household income	$39,413 → $51,765 (+31.3%)	$39,952 → $53,901 (+34.9%)
Median home value	$84,400 → $120,000 (+42.2%)	$167,300 → $230,900 (+38.0%)
Median gross rent	$660 → $724 (+9.7%)	$623 → $760 (+22.0%)

Cibola County

Population

26,89127,059

Median household income

$39,413$51,765

Median home value

$84,400$120,000

Median gross rent

$660$724

Rio Arriba County

Population

39,15940,165

Median household income

$39,952$53,901

Median home value

$167,300$230,900

Median gross rent

$623$760

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Cibola County	Rio Arriba County
Under 5	5.8%	5.0%
5 to 17	17.6%	17.6%
18 to 24	8.2%	8.0%
25 to 34	14.6%	10.6%
35 to 44	11.4%	11.6%
45 to 54	12.5%	11.7%
55 to 64	12.4%	14.3%
65 to 74	10.1%	12.7%
75 and over	7.5%	8.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Cibola County	Rio Arriba County
White (non-Hispanic)	19.7%	14.1%
Black or African American	1.9%	0.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	42.5%	15.6%
Asian	0.6%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.2%
Some other race	0.1%	0.5%
Two or more races	2.2%	1.1%
Hispanic or Latino	33.0%	67.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Cibola County	Rio Arriba County
No high school diploma	14.6%	13.6%
High school graduate	31.8%	33.5%
Some college or associate's	34.7%	34.1%
Bachelor's degree	10.6%	10.8%
Graduate or professional degree	8.2%	8.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Cibola County	Rio Arriba County
Drove alone	75.4%	78.0%
Carpooled	9.5%	8.1%
Public transit	0.7%	0.7%
Walked	2.6%	2.5%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	9.5%	9.3%
Other means	2.4%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Cibola County	Rio Arriba County
1-unit, detached	64.8%	56.8%
1-unit, attached	1.7%	1.1%
2 to 4 units	5.6%	2.9%
5 to 19 units	3.5%	0.4%
20 or more units	1.1%	0.5%
Mobile home & other	23.3%	38.5%

Poverty & households

	Cibola County	Rio Arriba County
Poverty rate	27.6%	20.1%
Average household size	3.05	2.65
Mean commute (minutes)	23	29
Median year structure built	1978	1983