Valencia County, New Mexico facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Valencia County
County
Valencia County Courthouse in Los Lunas
Location within the U.S. state of New Mexico
New Mexico's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	New Mexico
Founded	January 9, 1852
Named for	Valencia, New Mexico
Seat	Los Lunas
Largest village	Los Lunas
Area
• Total	1,068 sq mi (2,770 km2)
• Land	1,066 sq mi (2,760 km2)
• Water	2.1 sq mi (5 km2)  0.2%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	76,205
• Density	71.35/sq mi (27.550/km2)
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
Congressional districts	1st, 2nd

Valencia County (Spanish: Condado de Valencia) is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 76,205. The county seat is Los Lunas.

Valencia County is included in the Albuquerque, NM Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The county was a significant bellwether region that held the longest record for predicting presidential election winners until 2020.

History

The county, which had been previously larger in area, lost almost 81 percent of its territory on June 19, 1981, upon the creation of Cibola County, which occupies the westernmost portion of Valencia County's former area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,068 square miles (2,770 km²), of which 1,066 square miles (2,760 km²) is land and 2.1 square miles (5.4 km²) (0.2%) is water. It is the second-smallest county in New Mexico by area.

Adjacent counties

• Bernalillo County - north
• Torrance County - east
• Socorro County - south
• Cibola County - west

National protected areas

• Cibola National Forest (part)
• El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (part)
• Manzano Wilderness (part)

Other protected areas

• Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area, est. 2003

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 76,569 people, 27,500 households, and 19,967 families living in the county. The population density was 71.8 inhabitants per square mile (27.7/km²). There were 30,085 housing units at an average density of 28.2 per square mile (10.9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 73.2% white, 3.8% American Indian, 1.4% black or African American, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 17.0% from other races, and 4.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 58.3% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 10.9% were German, 6.7% were English, 6.1% were Irish, and 4.2% were American.

Of the 27,500 households, 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were married couples living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 27.4% were non-families, and 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.18. The median age was 37.7 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,044 and the median income for a family was $48,767. Males had a median income of $41,511 versus $32,584 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,955. About 15.7% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.7% of those under age 18 and 12.5% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

• Belen
• Rio Communities

Town

• Peralta

Villages

• Bosque Farms
• Los Lunas (county seat)

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

• Bosque
• Tome-Adelino

Education

Valencia County has two school districts: Belén Consolidated Schools and Los Lunas Public Schools.

Notable people

• Bo Diddley lived in Valencia County from 1971 to 1978, while continuing his musical career. He served for two and a half years as a deputy sheriff in the Valencia County Citizens' Patrol; during that time he purchased and donated three highway-patrol pursuit cars. He occasionally played local dances.
• Brian Reynolds Myers, lived in Valencia County during the late 1990s

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Valencia para niños