39,955 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.8% since 2020)
5,861 square miles of land · 7 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.
41 active community water systems list Rio Arriba County in the area they serve, reporting 26,556 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ESPANOLA WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · NM3501921 | 12,012 served |
| CHAMA WATER SYSTEM surface water · local government · NM3501021 | 1,573 served |
| AGUA SANA WUA groundwater · local government · NM3502421 | 1,514 served |
| EL RITO REGIONAL WATER & WASTE WATER ASN groundwater · local government · NM3504021 | 1,200 served |
| GREATER CHIMAYO MDWCA groundwater · local government · NM3502426 | 1,050 served |
| ALCALDE MDWCA groundwater · local government · NM3535021 | 927 served |
| CHAMITA MDWCA groundwater · local government · NM3500121 | 902 served |
| TRUCHAS MDWCA groundwater · local government · NM3503421 | 629 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 71 people were held in Rio Arriba County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 300 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 102.
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.
5 school districts have their office in Rio Arriba County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $53.6 million — $49.7 million to run schools, about $16,809 per student, plus $3.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5.3 million local (mostly property tax), $36.6 million state, $12.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $26.9 million.
Spent $16.2 million — $14.9 million to run schools, about $28,599 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.2 million local (mostly property tax), $11.9 million state, $5.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.8 million.
Spent $8.9 million — $8.4 million to run schools, about $23,025 per student, plus $395,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1 million local (mostly property tax), $7.1 million state, $796,000 federal. Long-term debt: $6.4 million.
Spent $6 million — $5.6 million to run schools, about $22,728 per student, plus $330,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $840,000 local (mostly property tax), $4.6 million state, $1 million federal. Long-term debt: $5.7 million.
Spent $6.3 million — $5.8 million to run schools, about $34,076 per student, plus $435,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $355,000 local (mostly property tax), $4.2 million state, $1.4 million federal.
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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Rio Arriba County about $26.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
159 bridges in Rio Arriba County: 61 in good condition, 88 fair, and 10 poor (6.3%). “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.
| NM-68 NB over SANTA CRUZ RIVER · built 1957 | 19,160 vehicles a day |
| US-84 over RIO DEL OSO · built 1964 | 11,253 vehicles a day |
| IRR BIA RTE 8 over AMARGO WASH · built 1976 | 1,000 vehicles a day |
| 39-Z083 over RIO QUEMADO · built 1975 | 166 vehicles a day |
| 39-212 over COYOTE CREEK · built 1935 | 166 vehicles a day |
| Camino Escondido over CHAMITA RIVER · built 1960 | 166 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $33.7 million of work in Rio Arriba County in fiscal 2025, about $834 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 Rio Arriba 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 Rio Arriba County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of New Mexico: the state government and every county in New Mexico.
Nearby counties: Los Alamos County (49 mi) · Archuleta County, CO (52 mi) · Conejos County, CO (56 mi) · Sandoval County (58 mi) · Taos County (59 mi) · Rio Grande County, CO (69 mi).