63,697 people (2024 Census estimate, −2.2% since 2020)
6,067 square miles of land · 10 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
10 active community water systems list Chaves County in the area they serve, reporting 63,200 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ROSWELL MUNICIPAL WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · NM3520203 | 54,025 served |
| BERRENDO COOPERATIVE WUA groundwater · private · NM3552903 | 4,304 served |
| DEXTER MUNICIPAL WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · NM3519703 | 1,554 served |
| HAGERMAN WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · NM3519903 | 1,248 served |
| CUMBERLAND COOPERATIVE WUA groundwater · private · NM3520103 | 588 served |
| FAMBROUGH MDWCA groundwater · local government · NM3510403 | 439 served |
| LAKE ARTHUR WATER DEPARTMENT groundwater · local government · NM3520003 | 374 served |
| ROSWELL CORRECTIONAL CENTER groundwater · state · NM3552803 | 280 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 224 people were held in Chaves County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 554 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 307.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
4 school districts have their office in Chaves County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $174.7 million — $142.8 million to run schools, about $14,716 per student, plus $30.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12.3 million local (mostly property tax), $122.4 million state, $31.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $38 million.
Spent $18.6 million — $16.3 million to run schools, about $20,081 per student, plus $2.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.8 million local (mostly property tax), $12 million state, $2.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.2 million.
Spent $8.2 million — $7.8 million to run schools, about $21,060 per student, plus $319,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.6 million local (mostly property tax), $6.1 million state, $1.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.9 million.
Spent $4 million — $3.2 million to run schools, about $23,221 per student, plus $720,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.3 million local (mostly property tax), $3.2 million state, $1.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.7 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Chaves County about $50.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
119 bridges in Chaves County: 39 in good condition, 78 fair, and 2 poor (1.7%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| C3-31 over PECOS RIVER · built 1957 | 250 vehicles a day |
| 05-Z014 over PENASCO RIVER · built 1980 | 206 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $27 million of work in Chaves County in fiscal 2025, about $415 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for New Mexico are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Chaves County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Chaves County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of New Mexico: the state government and every county in New Mexico.
Nearby counties: Lincoln County (62 mi) · Eddy County (63 mi) · De Baca County (69 mi) · Lea County (72 mi) · Roosevelt County (73 mi) · Otero County (90 mi).