Sierra County, New Mexico

County Distress Index: Serious · 65.8 | 11,488 people · 9th most distressed in New Mexico

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Sierra County, NM shows significant household financial distress with a score of 65.8 — 448th nationally out of 3144 counties. The primary driver is Income & Poverty, where poverty rates are high and household incomes lag well behind state and national medians. Within New Mexico, it ranks 9th of 33 counties. Among its 7 neighboring counties, 5 show less distress.

The Numbers Behind the Score

The CDI measures five domains of financial distress. Sierra County's primary driver is Income & Poverty at 93.5 — worse than roughly 94% of U.S. counties.

Income & Poverty Primary driver 93.5
Poverty Rate 93
Income vs. State Median 92
Child Poverty Rate 95
Employment & Wages 73.3
Unemployment Rate 92
Wage-to-Rent Ratio 67
Business Formation Rate 61
Housing Cost Burden 64.1
Rent-Burdened (30%+) 54
Severely Rent-Burdened (50%+) 49
Mortgage-Burdened (30%+) 53
Homeownership Rate 70
Rent-to-Income Ratio 95
Community Vulnerability 52.0
Uninsured Rate 9
Disability Rate 95
Debt & Delinquency 46.4
Debt in Collections 63
Medical Debt 85
Student Loan Delinquency 84
Auto Loan Delinquency 12
Credit Card Delinquency 5
Bankruptcy Filing Rate 29

Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed. The median line is shown on each bar.

Neighbors and Peers

How Sierra County compares to its 7 neighboring counties and population peers.

Neighboring Counties

County Score Zone vs. Sierra County
Sierra County, NM 65.8 Serious
Luna County, NM 75.4 Serious +9.6
Socorro County, NM 68.8 Serious +3.0
Doña Ana County, NM 63.4 Elevated -2.4
Otero County, NM 63.4 Elevated -2.5
Catron County, NM 60.4 Elevated -5.5
Grant County, NM 58.4 Elevated -7.4
Lincoln County, NM 57.2 Elevated -8.6

Population Peers

County Score Zone vs. Sierra County
Newton County, TX 65.8 Serious 0.0
Craig County, OK 65.9 Serious +0.0
Evans County, GA 65.8 Serious -0.0
Halifax County, VA 65.8 Serious -0.1
DeWitt County, TX 65.9 Serious +0.1

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