Cibola County is a county in the U.S. state of

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,172. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Grants. It is New Mexico's youngest county, and the third youngest county in the United States, created on June 19, 1981, from the westernmost four-fifths of the formerly much larger Valencia County. Cibola County comprises the Grants, New Mexico Micropolitan Statistical Area. The county is a rich mining area with numerous Uranium mines.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (0.05%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* McKinley County - north * Sandoval County - northeast * Bernalillo County - east * Valencia County - east * Socorro County - southeast * Catron County - south * Apache County, Arizona - west

National protected areas

* Cibola National Forest (part) * El Malpais National Conservation Area * El Malpais National Monument * El Morro National Monument

Demographics

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 25,595 people, 8,327 households, and 6,278 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 10,328 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 39.61%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.96%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 40.32% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 15.44% from other races, and 3.24% from two or more races. 33.42% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 8,327 households, out of which 38.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.60% were married couples living together, 18.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.60% were non-families. 21.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.41. In the county, the population was spread out, with 30.70% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 21.50% from 45 to 64, and 10.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 95.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $27,774, and the median income for a family was $30,714. Males had a median income of $27,652 versus $20,078 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $11,731. About 21.50% of families and 24.80% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 32.00% of those under age 18 and 17.70% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 27,213 people, 8,860 households, and 6,274 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 11,101 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 41.8% white, 41.0% American Indian, 1.0% black or African American, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 12.4% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 36.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 5.4% were Irish, and 1.5% were American. Of the 8,860 households, 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.1% were married couples living together, 20.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.2% were non-families, and 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.30. The median age was 36.6 years. The median income for a household in the county was $37,361 and the median income for a family was $41,187. Males had a median income of $36,027 versus $25,318 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,712. About 20.1% of families and 24.0% of the population were below the

, including 32.7% of those under age 18 and 14.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

School districts serving portions of the county include: * Grants-Cibola County Schools * Quemado Independent Schools * Zuni Public Schools All public schools in the county are operated by Grants/Cibola County Schools; the Quemado and Zuni facilities are in other counties. Due to an agreement between Cibola County and McKinley County, residents of the Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation are bussed to schools in Ramah in McKinley County (including Ramah Middle/High School) even though they are physically in Cibola County, due to the long distance to the nearest Cibola County schools from the reservation.
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Corrections

Cibola County is home to three prisons: * the Cibola County Correctional Center, operated by Corrections Corporation of America, housing 1129 federal inmates under a contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the United States Marshal Service * the New Mexico Women's Correctional Facility, run by CCA for the state of New Mexico, and * Western New Mexico Correctional Facility, owned and operated by the state, with about 440 male inmates In November 2018, following a private autopsy, a unit of the Cibola County Correctional Center (CCCC) was named in the abuse and wrongful death on May 25, 2018, of Roxsana Hernández Rodríguez. Rodríguez was a 33-year-old transgender woman who immigrated from Honduras. The CCCC is operated under contract by CoreCivic.

Politics

Cibola County tends to support the Democratic Party. In the 1984 presidential election, a majority voted for the Republican presidential nominee, otherwise since that time (except 2016 and 2024) all other presidential elections had a Democrat majority. Democratic strength lies especially in the Acoma, Laguna, and Ramah Navajo Reservations. Republican strength lies in Milan, Grants, and surrounding rural areas, as well as the southwestern portion of the county. In the 2024 election, the county saw a strong trend toward the Republican Party. Kamala Harris was unable to gain a majority in the county, only winning through a narrow plurality of 49.57%. This was due in part to the cities of Grants and Milan, which trended more Republican than in 2020, with every precinct giving Trump the majority (unlike in 2020, when much of central Grants voted majority Democratic). With the exception of the rural areas to the northeast and the northwest of Grants, the rest of the county also saw Republican trends, including the areas with highly Native American populations. This was the closest that any Republican presidential candidate has come to flipping the county since Reagan's time. At the state level, the only time it has voted for a Republican nominee for Governor was

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, when Susana Martinez carried all but five counties in her reelection bid.

Communities

City

* Grants (county seat)

Village

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Census-designated places

There are 32 Census Designated Places contained within the county, largely designated in 1980. * Acomita Lake * Anzac Village * Bibo * Bluewater Village * Broadview * Candy Kitchen * Cubero * El Morro Valley * Encinal * Fence Lake * Golden Acres * Laguna * Las Tusas * Lobo Canyon * McCartys Village * Mesita * Moquino * Mount Taylor * Mountain View * North Acomita Village * Paguate * Paraje * Pinehill * San Fidel * San Mateo * San Rafael * Seama * Seboyeta * Skyline-Ganipa * South Acomita Village * Stoneridge * Timberlake (part)

Unincorporated communities

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

* Casa Blanca * Cebolleta * Cebolletita * Cubero * El Rito * Fence Lake * New Laguna

Ghost Town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

* Anaconda

References

;Specific ;General
County status and boundary changes
United States Census Bureau

External links

{{Coord, 34.92, -107.99, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-NM_source:UScensus1990 1981 establishments in New Mexico Populated places established in 1981