New Mexico · FIPS 35035
Otero ZIP codes — Otero County, New Mexico
Quick answer
Otero County is home to 68,235 residents with a median household income of $52,717 and a median home value of $149,500. 65% of households own their home and 20% of residents live below the poverty line. Looking for a Otero ZIP code? 17 ZIP code areas fall inside Otero County, New Mexico, listed in full below.
- Population
- 68,235Otero County residents
- Median household income
- $52,717Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
- Median home value
- $149,500Owner-occupied units
- Median gross rent
- $926Rent plus utilities, monthly
- Median age
- 36.3 yrsAll residents
- Homeownership rate
- 65%Owner-occupied households
Otero County, NM in context
How this area compares with national benchmarks.
Otero County is a small city in New Mexico, with 68,235 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates. The median age here is 36.3 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.
Households in Otero County earn a median of $52,717 a year, 32.9% below the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 20% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.
The typical owner-occupied home in Otero County is valued at $149,500, 50.7% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $926 a month, 34.1% below the national figure, or roughly $11,112 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 21.1% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.8×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 65% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.
Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.
ZIP codes in Otero County
ZIP code tabulation areas whose land area falls mostly in Otero County.
How to read this page
What these estimates cover.
Figures are five-year rolling averages from the American Community Survey, not single-year counts, so they describe conditions across 2019-2023 ACS 5-year rather than a single date. Median home value covers owner-occupied units as valued by their owners, and median gross rent includes utilities the renter pays. Small counties carry wide margins of error; treat single-dollar differences between neighbouring counties as noise.
Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year
Cities and towns in New Mexico
Largest Census places in New Mexico by population.
- Albuquerque city 562,488
- Las Cruces city 112,612
- Rio Rancho city 106,533
- Santa Fe city 88,224
- Roswell city 47,823
- Farmington city 46,339
- Hobbs city 39,887
- Clovis city 38,153
- South Valley CDP 36,605
- Carlsbad city 31,813
- Alamogordo city 31,063
- Gallup city 21,333
Nearby counties
Other counties in New Mexico.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this area.
- What is the population of Otero County?
- Otero County has 68,235 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates.
- What is the median household income in Otero County?
- Median household income in Otero County is $52,717 a year, 32.9% below the national figure of $78,538.
- How much does it cost to rent or buy in Otero County?
- Median gross rent is $926 a month and the median home value is $149,500, so rent absorbs about 21.1% of median household income.
- Is Otero County affordable compared with the rest of the US?
- Homes cost about 2.8× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Otero County is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 21.1% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
- How current is this Otero County data?
- All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.