Counties / New Mexico / Socorro County

Socorro County, NM

FIPS 35053 · population 16,200 · outside every metro area

$199k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
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.

Zillow home value
$199k
▲ 2.5% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$691
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
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

The annual signals disagree
FHFA five-year cumulative+41.6%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+2.5%FHFA HPI2025−10.1%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$138k
Surveyed gross rent$691
Rent burden 30%+62.7%
Median year built1980
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
31.5%vacant
7,693estimated housing units
Occupied tenure24.9% renter
owner 75.1%renter 24.9%
Structure mix50.2% single-family
Single-family 50.2%20+ units 2.5%Mobile home 39.1%Other 8.2%
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 jobs4,867▼ 0.1% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments384annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,035▲ 3.8% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services35.5% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−0.1%WEEKLY WAGE+3.8%Education and health services35.5%
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

Socorro County presents a price-signal conflict rather than a clear entry case. Zillow’s June 2026 county median home value was $199,187, up 2.49% year over year, while the FHFA repeat-transaction HPI for annual 2025 fell 10.10%. These are different vintages and methods: FHFA is an index, not a home value, and neither series should be blended. Buyers relying on current appreciation or income should first test local closed comparables and lease evidence.

02Housing economics

No county market asking rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $973 per month is a payment standard, not a market-rent estimate, and cannot fill that gap. Carrying-cost evidence is limited to an effective property-tax rate of 0.61%. That county measure does not establish the subject property’s assessment, tax bill, insurance cost, or operating expense load.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s June 2026 MLS evidence describes a less-tight visible listing market: active listings rose 63.77% year over year and the pending-to-active ratio was 14.16%. These are listing-market measures; listing prices are asks, and neither listings nor pendings alone proves buyer demand or sale pricing. Tax-return migration records show 68 more moving households left than arrived, with incoming movers’ average income $8,710 below outgoing movers’. Recorded investor purchase mortgages represented 2.75% of 109 purchases; that measure excludes unobserved all-cash activity.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled annual climate-loss ratio is 0.39% of building value; this county-level estimate does not replace parcel flood-zone, elevation, drainage, insurance, and deductible review. QCEW’s annual 2025 workplace covered employment declined; it is not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast. Education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Missing market rents, vacancy, concessions, closed sales, and property-specific flood and insurance evidence prevent a cash-flow, value, or hazard-cost conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Socorro 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
Socorro city8.5KPolvadera CDP1KMagdalena village976Lemitar CDP316Alamillo CDP247Alamo CDP246San Acacia CDP176La Joya CDP159
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

16 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Socorro cityIncorporated place
    8,481
  2. 02
    Polvadera CDPCensus-designated place
    1,033
  3. 03
    Magdalena villageIncorporated place
    976
  4. 04
    Lemitar CDPCensus-designated place
    316
  5. 05
    Alamillo CDPCensus-designated place
    247
  6. 06
    Alamo CDPCensus-designated place
    246
  7. 07
    San Acacia CDPCensus-designated place
    176
  8. 08
    La Joya CDPCensus-designated place
    159
  9. 09
    Veguita CDPCensus-designated place
    157
  10. 10
    San Antonito CDP (Socorro County)Census place
    142
  11. 11
    San Antonio CDPCensus-designated place
    89
  12. 12
    Las Nutrias CDPCensus-designated place
    64
Show 4 more places
  1. 13
    Luis Lopez CDPCensus-designated place
    53
  2. 14
    Chamizal CDPCensus-designated place
    35
  3. 15
    Abeytas CDPCensus-designated place
    0
  4. 16
    Escondida CDPCensus-designated place
    0

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

0.393% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.61%

$838 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-68

376 in · 444 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$8,710

$39,112 arriving · $47,822 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors2.8%

3 of 109 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings57▲ 63.8% year over year
Median days on market114▲ 31.3% year over year
Listings price-reduced10.6%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 28.9% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

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 market rent, vacancy, and operating costs could make cash flow materially different from an initial assumption.
  2. County-level value and listing measures may not reflect the target property type, condition, or submarket’s closed-sale pricing.
  3. Parcel-specific flood exposure, insurance availability, and deductibles may differ materially from the county climate model.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the supplied record?

No. County market asking rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot be substituted for market rent.

Does the reported investor-share measure capture all investor purchases?

No. It measures non-occupant purchase mortgages and does not supply all-cash investor activity.

What hazard should be checked at the parcel level?

Inland flood. The record supplies a county-level modeled climate-loss ratio, not a parcel flood determination or insurance quote.