Rio Arriba County, New Mexico

Rio Arriba County is a county in New Mexico, United States, along the Colorado border in the
state’s north-central highlands. It had a population of 40,363 at the 2020 census, an
estimated 39,832 by 2024, and covers 5,896 square miles (15,270 km2) centred near 36°31′N 106°42′W.

Tierra Amarilla is the county seat; its postal code is 87575. The county holds one incorporated
village, part of one city, and roughly three dozen unincorporated communities and census-designated
places, and it runs on Mountain Time. Its FIPS code is 35039.

Towns & Villages in Rio Arriba County

Rio Arriba County has around 40 named places on record. Chama is the only fully incorporated
village; Española is a city whose limits reach across three counties, with only its western
side inside Rio Arriba. Every other place is a census-designated place (CDP) or an unincorporated
community — including Tierra Amarilla itself, an unusual case of a county seat with no city
government of its own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers land-grant villages
and rural crossroads with no formal boundary.

Two places on this list have no separate census count because they are folded into a larger
report. Chimayo’s 3,077 residents are counted as one CDP that straddles the Rio Arriba–Santa
Fe county line, so not all of them live in Rio Arriba. Española’s 10,526 is the full
city count across Rio Arriba, Santa Fe and Los Alamos counties — only its western wards sit in
Rio Arriba. Cordova shares the 87578 ZIP routing area with neighboring Truchas even though it has
its own 87523 code on file, so mail carriers there use either.

ZIP Codes

• 87532 — Española (also 87533, a post office box ZIP)
• 87528 — Dulce
• 87522 — Chimayo
• 87537 — Hernandez
• 87527 — Dixon
• 87520 — Chama
• 87530 — El Rito
• 87548 — Medanales
• 87510 — Abiquiu
• 87575 — Tierra Amarilla
• 87582 — Velarde
• 87578 — Truchas (also serves Cordova)
• 87523 — Cordova
• 87511 — Alcalde
• 87566 — Ohkay Owingeh
• 87017 — Gallina
• 87515 — Canjilon
• 87012 — Coyote
• 87539 — La Madera
• 87029 — Lindrith
• 87064 — Youngsville
• 87551 — Los Ojos
• 87531 — Embudo
• 87516 — Cañones
• 87518 — Cebolla
• 87554 — Petaca
• 87581 — Vallecitos

Lumberton, Chamita, Lyden, San Jose, Canova, Brazos, Ensenada, La Villita, La Mesilla, El Duende,
Pueblito, Ojo Sarco and Santa Clara Pueblo have no ZIP code of their own; residents there use the
nearest post office town’s code instead.

Geography

Rio Arriba County is New Mexico’s fifth-largest county by land area, running from the
sagebrush mesas of the Colorado Plateau in the west to the peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range in
the east. Of its 5,896 square miles, 5,861 are land and 35 are water, about 0.6 percent — the
main water bodies are Heron Lake and El Vado Lake, both reservoirs on the Rio Chama near Tierra
Amarilla. Truchas Peak, at 13,102 feet (3,993 metres), is the county’s highest point and one of
New Mexico’s tallest summits. The Rio Chama and the Rio Grande, which meet near Española,
cut the county’s two major river valleys.

Colorado’s Archuleta and Conejos counties lie across the state line to the north. Taos
County borders to the east, Mora County touches the southeast corner, and Santa Fe County, Los
Alamos County and Sandoval County lie to the south. Taos County, Mora County, Santa Fe County, Los Alamos County, Sandoval County and San Juan County, to the west,
all border Rio Arriba directly.

Demographics

Rio Arriba County had a population of 40,363 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 39,832 residents, a slight decline typical of rural northern New Mexico. Española
and Chimayo are the two largest communities, together holding roughly a third of the county’s
population. Median household income runs $57,155, below New Mexico’s statewide figure of
$62,268 reflecting the area’s dependence on seasonal and government work. Population density works out to about 6.9 people per square mile of land — thin even by
New Mexico standards, and concentrated almost entirely along the Rio Grande and Rio Chama valleys.
Hispanic or Latino residents make up about 67 percent of the county, and American Indian or Alaska
Native residents about 17 percent, reflecting the Jicarilla Apache Nation at Dulce and the pueblos
of Ohkay Owingeh and Santa Clara.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 2,302 people,
followed by professional and scientific services at 2,211 and public administration at 1,974. Los
Alamos National
Laboratory, just across the county line, draws thousands of daily commuters from Española and
the surrounding villages and is the single biggest wage source for county residents. Northern New
Mexico College, based in Española with a satellite campus in El Rito, is the county’s
main higher-education employer. The Jicarilla Apache Nation runs the Apache Nugget Casino and manages
oil, gas and timber leases from its Dulce headquarters, the largest tribal economy inside the county.
Agriculture along the river valleys centers on apple and chile production: Velarde’s orchards
and Chimayo’s heirloom Chimayó chile pepper are both regionally known crops, and Dixon
and Velarde each host a working winery. Ghost Ranch, near Abiquiu, operates as a retreat and
conference center on the former ranch where painter Georgia O’Keeffe lived and worked. The
county’s biggest annual event is the Good Friday pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayo each
March or April, which draws up to 30,000 walkers during Holy Week alone.

History

The New Mexico territorial legislature created Rio Arriba County in 1852 as one of the
territory’s original nine counties. The name means “upriver” in Spanish, describing
its position along the upper Rio Grande relative to Santa Fe downstream. Spain granted the Tierra
Amarilla Land Grant in 1832, though permanent settlement did not take hold until the 1860s because of
raids. Ohkay Owingeh, then called San Juan Pueblo by Spanish colonists, served as the first capital
of Spanish New Mexico after Juan de Oñate established it in 1598, until the seat moved to
Santa Fe in 1610.

In January 1847, US forces fought Mexican and Pueblo insurgents at the Battle of Embudo Pass, near
present-day Dixon, during the Taos Revolt that followed the American occupation of New Mexico. More
than a century later, on 5 June 1967, activist Reies Tijerina led an armed raid on the Tierra
Amarilla courthouse, attempting a citizen’s arrest of the district attorney over disputed
Hispanic land-grant claims; the confrontation left two officers wounded and became a defining moment
of the Chicano land-grant movement.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Rio Arriba County. US 84 and US 285 run north–south through
Española and Chama toward the Colorado border, US 64 crosses east–west through Tierra
Amarilla, and NM 68, NM 76 and NM 96 connect the smaller river-valley villages.

• Santa Fe — about 25 miles south of Española
• Taos — about 25 miles east of Española
• Farmington — about 95 miles west of Tierra Amarilla
• Albuquerque — about 90 miles south of Española

Santa Fe Regional Airport, roughly 25 miles south of Española, is the nearest commercial
airport; Albuquerque International Sunport, about 90 miles south, carries more flights. The county
has no Amtrak service; the nearest station is on the Southwest Chief line at Raton, about 100 miles
northeast via US 64.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Rio Arriba County located?
It sits in north-central New Mexico along the Colorado border, bordered by Taos, Mora, Santa Fe, Los
Alamos, Sandoval and San Juan counties.

What is the population of Rio Arriba County?
40,363 at the 2020 census, with a recent estimate near 39,832.

How big is Rio Arriba County?
5,896 square miles (15,270 km2), of which 5,861 square miles are land — New Mexico’s
fifth-largest county by land area.

What is the county seat of Rio Arriba County?
Tierra Amarilla, a census-designated place with about 297 residents, has been the county seat since
1880.

How many towns and villages are in Rio Arriba County?
One incorporated village, Chama, plus the western wards of Española and roughly 38
unincorporated communities and census-designated places, including Dulce, Chimayo, Dixon, Velarde
and Abiquiu.

What ZIP codes does Rio Arriba County use?
27 ZIP codes are assigned inside the county, from 87532 for Española to 87575 for Tierra
Amarilla and 87510 for Abiquiu.

What is Rio Arriba County known for?
El Santuario de Chimayo, the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad out of Chama, Ghost Ranch near
Abiquiu, and the Jicarilla Apache Nation headquartered at Dulce.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in New Mexico.