Sierra County vs Torrance County

A side-by-side comparison of Sierra County and Torrance County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Torrance County has the higher population (15,290 vs 11,511 in Sierra County). Torrance County has the higher median household income ($46,250 vs $37,840 in Sierra County). Torrance County has the higher median home value ($145,100 vs $144,800 in Sierra County).

Population, income & housing

	Sierra County	Torrance County
Population	11,511	15,290
Median age	57.3 yrs	42.5 yrs
Median household income	$37,840	$46,250
Median home value	$144,800	$145,100
Median gross rent	$695	$845
Housing units	8,139	7,238
Homeownership rate	70.2%	81.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.3%	14.9%
Unemployment rate	3.6%	11.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Sierra County	Torrance County
Population	11,031 → 11,511 (+4.4%)	15,519 → 15,290 (-1.5%)
Median household income	$29,755 → $37,840 (+27.2%)	$36,120 → $46,250 (+28.0%)
Median home value	$117,400 → $144,800 (+23.3%)	$114,300 → $145,100 (+26.9%)
Median gross rent	$537 → $695 (+29.4%)	$754 → $845 (+12.1%)

Sierra County

Population

11,03111,511

Median household income

$29,755$37,840

Median home value

$117,400$144,800

Median gross rent

$537$695

Torrance County

Population

15,51915,290

Median household income

$36,120$46,250

Median home value

$114,300$145,100

Median gross rent

$754$845

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Sierra County	Torrance County
Under 5	3.6%	4.7%
5 to 17	11.9%	15.9%
18 to 24	4.5%	8.1%
25 to 34	7.8%	11.7%
35 to 44	10.1%	12.2%
45 to 54	10.4%	10.4%
55 to 64	14.7%	14.7%
65 to 74	20.0%	14.5%
75 and over	17.0%	7.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Sierra County	Torrance County
White (non-Hispanic)	63.8%	48.9%
Black or African American	0.2%	1.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	2.4%	2.2%
Asian	0.2%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	1.0%
Two or more races	3.9%	3.1%
Hispanic or Latino	29.4%	42.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Sierra County	Torrance County
No high school diploma	9.8%	13.5%
High school graduate	35.3%	33.0%
Some college or associate's	38.6%	38.7%
Bachelor's degree	9.7%	9.4%
Graduate or professional degree	6.6%	5.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Sierra County	Torrance County
Drove alone	73.8%	72.2%
Carpooled	8.8%	10.4%
Public transit	0.6%	0.0%
Walked	3.9%	1.4%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.8%
Worked from home	7.2%	11.5%
Other means	5.8%	3.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Sierra County	Torrance County
1-unit, detached	46.5%	50.6%
1-unit, attached	0.7%	1.7%
2 to 4 units	5.9%	0.8%
5 to 19 units	2.5%	0.2%
20 or more units	1.9%	1.6%
Mobile home & other	42.5%	45.1%

Poverty & households

	Sierra County	Torrance County
Poverty rate	24.9%	20.4%
Average household size	2.08	2.64
Mean commute (minutes)	14	37
Median year structure built	1983	1986