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Census 2000 Profile: New Mexico
MARCH 26, 2001

A profile of New Mexico and its American Indian / Alaska Native population.

The American Indian population in New Mexico increased by nearly 30 percent over the past decade, according to Census 2000 figures released on Friday.

At 173,483, American Indians now comprise 9.5 percent of the total population, making New Mexico the state with the second largest proportion of Native Americans. Only Alaska is greater, with 15.6 percent of the population identifying themselves as American Indian or Alaska Native.

And like Alaska, New Mexicans in general identified themselves as belonging to more than one race at a higher rate than the country as a whole. Nationwide, some 2.4 percent chose more than one race; in New Mexico some 3.6 percent did.

Among American Indians, the most common mixed-race combination was White and American Indians (11,567), followed by American Indian and some other race (3,006), then African-American and American Indian (1,060). Overall, though, the majority of American Indians in New Mexico identified themselves as one race.

The majority (60 percent) of Indians in the state live on reservation or trust lands. But a significant number live in three urban areas: Albuquerque (17,444), Farmington (6,419), and Gallup (7,404). Albuquerque, the largest city in the state, is located near a number of Pueblos, the other two cities are located on or near the Navajo Reservation.

Not surprisingly, the largest number and percentage of American Indians live in the Four Corners area of the state, where the New Mexico portion of the Navajo Reservation is located.


Table 1: Population by race, based only on respondents who identified themselves as one race.
RACE POPULATION PERCENTAGE GROWTH (%)
1990 - 2000
All 1,819,046 100.0 20.1
White 1,214,253 66.8 6.0
American Indian / Alaska Native 173,483 9.5 29.1
African-American 34,343 1.9 13.7
Asian-American 19,255 1.1 44.1
Sources: Population by Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin, for All Ages and for 18 Years and Over, for New Mexico:  2000; Difference in Population by Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin, for New Mexico:  2000

Table 2: Cities with highest American Indian / Alaska Native population.
CITY AI / AN TOTAL PERCENTAGE
Albuquerque 17,444 448,607 3.9%
Farmington 7,404 37,844 19.6%
Gallup 6,419 20,209 31.8%
Santa Fe 1,373 62,203 2.2%
Source: Population by Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin, for the 15 Largest Counties and Incorporated Places in New Mexico: 2000

Table 3: Counties with highest American Indian / Alaska Native population.
COUNTY AI / AN TOTAL PERCENTAGE
McKinley 55,892 74,798 74.7%
San Juan 41,968 113,801 36.9%
Bernalillo 23,175 556,678 4.2%
Sandoval County 14,634 74,798 19.6%
Rio Arriba 5,717 41,190 13.9%
Otero 3,614 62,298 5.8%
Santa Fe 3,982 129,292 3.1%
Source: Population by Race and Hispanic or Latino Origin, for the 15 Largest Counties and Incorporated Places in New Mexico: 2000

Table 4: Reservation and trust land populations.
RESERVATION and TRUST LAND AI / AN TOTAL
Acoma Pueblo 2,723 2,802
Cochiti Pueblo 695 1,502
Isleta Pueblo 2,675 3,166
Jemez Pueblo 1,941 1,958
Jicarilla Apache Nation 2,475 2,755
Laguna Pueblo 3,669 3,815
Mescalero Nation 2,888 3,156
Nambe Pueblo 455 1,764
Navajo Nation 67,397 69,524
Picuris Pueblo 166 1,801
Pojoaque Pueblo 264 2,712
San Felipe Pueblo 2,465 3,185
San Ildefonso Pueblo 528 1,524
San Juan Pueblo 1,328 6,748
Sandia Pueblo 500 4,414
Santa Ana Pueblo 473 487
Santa Clara Pueblo 1,329 10,658
Santo Domingo Pueblo 3,085 3,166
Taos Pueblo 1,331 4,492
Tesuque Pueblo 355 806
Ute Mountain Ute Reservation (NM part only) 0 0
Zia Pueblo 645 646
Zuni Pueblo 7,426 7,758
Total 104,813 138,839
Non-Indian Population on Reservations: 34,026
Source: American Fact Finder

Additional Data
Census 2000 Data for the State of New Mexico - http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/tables/redist_nm.html

Related Stories
Reservation counties among poorest (11/24)
Native population on the rise (08/31)
Census data by state (08/31)
 

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