McKinley County vs Otero County

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

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

McKinley County has the higher population (71,172 vs 68,235 in Otero County). Otero County has the higher median household income ($52,717 vs $44,496 in McKinley County). Otero County has the higher median home value ($149,500 vs $72,100 in McKinley County).

Population, income & housing

	McKinley County	Otero County
Population	71,172	68,235
Median age	34.1 yrs	36.3 yrs
Median household income	$44,496	$52,717
Median home value	$72,100	$149,500
Median gross rent	$810	$926
Housing units	25,213	32,400
Homeownership rate	68.8%	65.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	12.5%	21.6%
Unemployment rate	9.4%	9.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	McKinley County	Otero County
Population	72,438 → 71,172 (-1.7%)	66,137 → 68,235 (+3.2%)
Median household income	$33,834 → $44,496 (+31.5%)	$41,988 → $52,717 (+25.6%)
Median home value	$64,800 → $72,100 (+11.3%)	$112,400 → $149,500 (+33.0%)
Median gross rent	$672 → $810 (+20.5%)	$792 → $926 (+16.9%)

McKinley County

Population

72,43871,172

Median household income

$33,834$44,496

Median home value

$64,800$72,100

Median gross rent

$672$810

Otero County

Population

66,13768,235

Median household income

$41,988$52,717

Median home value

$112,400$149,500

Median gross rent

$792$926

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	McKinley County	Otero County
Under 5	5.9%	6.1%
5 to 17	21.6%	16.0%
18 to 24	9.0%	11.4%
25 to 34	15.0%	15.2%
35 to 44	12.4%	12.1%
45 to 54	11.2%	10.1%
55 to 64	11.6%	11.9%
65 to 74	8.3%	10.2%
75 and over	4.9%	7.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	McKinley County	Otero County
White (non-Hispanic)	8.0%	46.6%
Black or African American	0.4%	3.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	75.1%	5.8%
Asian	1.3%	1.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.1%
Some other race	0.1%	0.4%
Two or more races	2.8%	3.1%
Hispanic or Latino	12.2%	39.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	McKinley County	Otero County
No high school diploma	19.1%	12.7%
High school graduate	36.6%	29.0%
Some college or associate's	31.8%	36.7%
Bachelor's degree	7.4%	14.2%
Graduate or professional degree	5.1%	7.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	McKinley County	Otero County
Drove alone	80.0%	77.8%
Carpooled	6.4%	11.9%
Public transit	1.1%	0.3%
Walked	2.1%	3.1%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.3%
Worked from home	9.6%	6.0%
Other means	0.7%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	McKinley County	Otero County
1-unit, detached	64.1%	58.6%
1-unit, attached	1.6%	3.9%
2 to 4 units	6.8%	5.5%
5 to 19 units	2.4%	2.2%
20 or more units	0.7%	0.8%
Mobile home & other	24.4%	29.1%

Poverty & households

	McKinley County	Otero County
Poverty rate	35.7%	20.0%
Average household size	3.33	2.66
Mean commute (minutes)	25	23
Median year structure built	1983	1984