| 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) |