Otero County vs Valencia County

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

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

Valencia County has the higher population (77,382 vs 68,235 in Otero County). Valencia County has the higher median household income ($58,333 vs $52,717 in Otero County). Valencia County has the higher median home value ($206,800 vs $149,500 in Otero County).

Population, income & housing

	Otero County	Valencia County
Population	68,235	77,382
Median age	36.3 yrs	39.0 yrs
Median household income	$52,717	$58,333
Median home value	$149,500	$206,800
Median gross rent	$926	$970
Housing units	32,400	30,396
Homeownership rate	65.0%	82.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.6%	20.8%
Unemployment rate	9.1%	6.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Otero County	Valencia County
Population	66,137 → 68,235 (+3.2%)	76,027 → 77,382 (+1.8%)
Median household income	$41,988 → $52,717 (+25.6%)	$48,945 → $58,333 (+19.2%)
Median home value	$112,400 → $149,500 (+33.0%)	$142,600 → $206,800 (+45.0%)
Median gross rent	$792 → $926 (+16.9%)	$876 → $970 (+10.7%)

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

Valencia County

Population

76,02777,382

Median household income

$48,945$58,333

Median home value

$142,600$206,800

Median gross rent

$876$970

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Otero County	Valencia County
Under 5	6.1%	5.6%
5 to 17	16.0%	17.3%
18 to 24	11.4%	8.5%
25 to 34	15.2%	12.8%
35 to 44	12.1%	12.4%
45 to 54	10.1%	11.6%
55 to 64	11.9%	13.4%
65 to 74	10.2%	11.3%
75 and over	7.0%	7.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Otero County	Valencia County
White (non-Hispanic)	46.6%	31.1%
Black or African American	3.4%	1.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	5.8%	3.7%
Asian	1.4%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.1%
Some other race	0.4%	0.5%
Two or more races	3.1%	2.1%
Hispanic or Latino	39.1%	60.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Otero County	Valencia County
No high school diploma	12.7%	14.1%
High school graduate	29.0%	31.3%
Some college or associate's	36.7%	33.8%
Bachelor's degree	14.2%	12.1%
Graduate or professional degree	7.4%	8.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Otero County	Valencia County
Drove alone	77.8%	76.4%
Carpooled	11.9%	11.3%
Public transit	0.3%	0.5%
Walked	3.1%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.0%	9.3%
Other means	0.8%	1.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Otero County	Valencia County
1-unit, detached	58.6%	62.5%
1-unit, attached	3.9%	1.4%
2 to 4 units	5.5%	2.1%
5 to 19 units	2.2%	1.0%
20 or more units	0.8%	1.8%
Mobile home & other	29.1%	31.2%

Poverty & households

	Otero County	Valencia County
Poverty rate	20.0%	18.4%
Average household size	2.66	2.83
Mean commute (minutes)	23	29
Median year structure built	1984	1989