Rio Arriba County vs Taos County

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

Rio Arriba County and Taos 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 34,516 in Taos County). Taos County has the higher median household income ($58,908 vs $53,901 in Rio Arriba County). Taos County has the higher median home value ($354,000 vs $230,900 in Rio Arriba County).

Population, income & housing

	Rio Arriba County	Taos County
Population	40,165	34,516
Median age	42.4 yrs	51.9 yrs
Median household income	$53,901	$58,908
Median home value	$230,900	$354,000
Median gross rent	$760	$1,069
Housing units	19,703	21,091
Homeownership rate	78.1%	78.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.8%	37.1%
Unemployment rate	5.1%	5.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Rio Arriba County	Taos County
Population	39,159 → 40,165 (+2.6%)	32,786 → 34,516 (+5.3%)
Median household income	$39,952 → $53,901 (+34.9%)	$38,329 → $58,908 (+53.7%)
Median home value	$167,300 → $230,900 (+38.0%)	$239,500 → $354,000 (+47.8%)
Median gross rent	$623 → $760 (+22.0%)	$784 → $1,069 (+36.4%)

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

Taos County

Population

32,78634,516

Median household income

$38,329$58,908

Median home value

$239,500$354,000

Median gross rent

$784$1,069

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Rio Arriba County	Taos County
Under 5	5.0%	3.0%
5 to 17	17.6%	13.1%
18 to 24	8.0%	6.7%
25 to 34	10.6%	8.2%
35 to 44	11.6%	12.1%
45 to 54	11.7%	11.6%
55 to 64	14.3%	15.7%
65 to 74	12.7%	17.9%
75 and over	8.4%	11.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Rio Arriba County	Taos County
White (non-Hispanic)	14.1%	40.5%
Black or African American	0.7%	0.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	15.6%	5.0%
Asian	0.6%	0.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.2%	0.0%
Some other race	0.5%	0.1%
Two or more races	1.1%	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	67.3%	50.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Rio Arriba County	Taos County
No high school diploma	13.6%	6.6%
High school graduate	33.5%	26.5%
Some college or associate's	34.1%	29.8%
Bachelor's degree	10.8%	19.8%
Graduate or professional degree	8.0%	17.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Rio Arriba County	Taos County
Drove alone	78.0%	66.7%
Carpooled	8.1%	11.7%
Public transit	0.7%	0.5%
Walked	2.5%	2.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.2%
Worked from home	9.3%	17.4%
Other means	1.3%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Rio Arriba County	Taos County
1-unit, detached	56.8%	70.2%
1-unit, attached	1.1%	2.5%
2 to 4 units	2.9%	6.1%
5 to 19 units	0.4%	5.5%
20 or more units	0.5%	1.5%
Mobile home & other	38.5%	14.3%

Poverty & households

	Rio Arriba County	Taos County
Poverty rate	20.1%	14.4%
Average household size	2.65	2.36
Mean commute (minutes)	29	24
Median year structure built	1983	1983