Counties / New Mexico / Mora County

Mora County, NM

FIPS 35033 · population 4,149 · outside every metro area

$123k
ACS owner-reported value · ACS 2024 5-year
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

ACS owner-reported value
$123k
survey estimate; not a current listing or sale price
Census ACS · surveyed
ACS median gross rent
$887
occupied-unit survey; not current asking rent
Census ACS · surveyed
Gross yield
n/a
gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent
requires both measured price and measured rent
HUD 2-bed standard
$973
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Owner-reported value$123k
Surveyed gross rent$887
Rent burden 30%+18.0%
Median year built1983
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
32.7%vacant
2,923estimated housing units
Occupied tenure13.3% renter
owner 86.7%renter 13.3%
Structure mix71.2% single-family
Single-family 71.2%20+ units 0.0%Mobile home 24.4%Other 4.4%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs678▲ 1.5% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments142annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,028▲ 17.9% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services36.8% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+1.5%WEEKLY WAGE+17.9%Education and health services36.8%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Mora County’s underwriting tension is a survey owner-occupant value benchmark alongside a small renter footprint and notable survey vacancy. Operators willing to verify property-level demand may investigate; those requiring demonstrated rent depth or resale evidence should be cautious. In the ACS 2024 five-year survey, the owner-reported median value of owner-occupied homes is $122,600, while 32.67% of housing units are vacant and renters occupy 13.26% of occupied units. These are descriptive survey conditions, not current prices or transaction evidence.

02Housing economics

Housing economics remain unpriced. The $973 HUD two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent. ACS reports $887 median gross rent for occupied units, also a survey measure rather than current asking rent. Because no market rent is published, gross yield cannot be computed; the ACS rent and owner-value medians must not be combined. The 0.72% effective property-tax rate and $885 median annual tax identify carrying-cost context, but not a target parcel’s bill. No current sale-price series is supplied to reconcile survey values, rent, and taxes.

03Demand & competition

Annual QCEW workplace data show 678 covered jobs, up 1.5% from the prior annual average. Education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector, not a description of the whole county economy. Tax-return migration was net positive by 22 households, and average income of movers in exceeded movers out by $1,959. Non-occupant purchase mortgages were 2 of 18 purchases, or 11.11%; that small purchase count records participation but does not establish broad buyer competition. These labor and migration measures are not resident employment, unemployment, or demand forecasts.

04Risk & next checks

Risk limits are substantial. The modeled annual building-value loss ratio is 0.69%, consistent with inland flood as the dominant hazard, but it does not identify exposure at a specific parcel. No Zillow county value series, FHFA repeat-transaction HPI observation, or Realtor.com MLS listing-price, supply, marketing-time, or reduction data is published here; current price direction, visible supply, and seller concessions therefore cannot be assessed. Next checks are flood zone, insurance and loss history, property condition, actual rent comps and lease-up, and parcel tax assessment.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Mora County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Wagon Mound village557Mora CDP520Watrous CDP42
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

3 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Wagon Mound villageIncorporated place
    557
  2. 02
    Mora CDPCensus-designated place
    520
  3. 03
    Watrous CDPCensus-designated place
    42

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.690% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.72%

$885 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+22

84 in · 62 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$1,959

$47,524 arriving · $45,565 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors11.1%

2 of 18 mortgages

investorother financed
No rent index is published for this county.Zillow’s county rent series does not cover every county, and estimating one from a neighbouring county would be a guess wearing a number’s clothes. Everything above is measured here; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Actual achievable rent and occupancy may differ materially from ACS survey measures, leaving income and yield untested.
  2. Parcel flood exposure, insurance terms, or prior loss history may make the county-level climate ratio inadequate for a target building.
  3. Sparse purchase activity and absent current pricing or MLS evidence may conceal exit-liquidity or seller-concession conditions.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is the $973 HUD figure market asking rent?

No. It is HUD's two-bedroom Fair Market Rent payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent.

How much investor participation is recorded?

Non-occupant purchase mortgages account for 2 of 18 purchases, or 11.11%.

Can current listing-market conditions be assessed?

No. The record publishes no Realtor.com MLS listing price, inventory, days-on-market, or price-reduction figures.