County Employment and Wages in New Mexico — Fourth Quarter 2025

Employment rose in the two largest counties in New Mexico from December 2024 to December 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Jerome Watters noted that Doña Ana County (+1.7 percent) had the largest over-the-year increase in employment. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Horizontal bar chart showing over-the-year percent change in covered employment among the largest counties in New Mexico in December 2025.

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in covered employment among the largest counties in New Mexico, December 2025
County	Percent change, December 2025
Bernalillo	0.2
Dona Ana	1.7

Bernalillo County (348,000) had the highest employment level in New Mexico in December 2025. Together, the two largest counties accounted for 49.2 percent of total covered employment within the state. Nationwide, the 372 largest counties comprise 73.4 percent of total covered employment in the United States. (Large counties and county equivalents are those with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2024.)

Large county average weekly wages in the fourth quarter 2025

The average weekly wage in Bernalillo, the only large county in New Mexico with published data, increased 3.8 percent. Nationally, the average weekly wage was up 4.2 percent over the year.

Weekly wages in both large counties in New Mexico were below the national average of $1,569: $1,320 in Bernalillo and $1,056 in Doña Ana.

Smaller county average weekly wages in the fourth quarter of 2025

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 31 smaller counties in New Mexico, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2024. (See table 2.) Wage levels in 29 of the 31 smaller counties were below the national average. Los Alamos reported the highest average weekly wage ($2,444) in the state. Catron reported the lowest average weekly wage ($876).

Among all 33 New Mexico counties, 5 reported average weekly wages less than $925, 12 had wages from $925 to $1,024, 7 had wages from $1,025 to $1,124, 2 had wages from $1,125 to $1,224, and 7 had average weekly wages of $1,225 or higher. (See map 1 and table 2.)

Map 1. Average weekly wages by county in New Mexico, fourth quarter 2025

(U.S. average = $1,569)

Additional statistics and other information

QCEW data for states have been included in this release in table 3.

Nationwide coverage of the largest counties is published in the County Employment and Wages news release. Additional information about quarterly employment and wages data is available in the news release Technical Note and from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages website.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

The County Employment and Wages release for the first quarter 2026 is scheduled to be released on Friday, August 28, 2026.

Table 1. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the United States and the two largest counties in New Mexico, fourth quarter 2025
Area	Establishments, fourth quarter (thousands)	Employment			Average weekly wage (1)
Area	Establishments, fourth quarter (thousands)	December 2025 (thousands)	Percent change, December 2024–25 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)	Fourth quarter 2025 ($)	National ranking by level (3)	Percent change, fourth quarter 2024–25 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)
United States (4)	12,428.4	156,700.2	0.2	--	1,569	--	4.2	--
New Mexico	69.7	875.3	-0.3	--	1,275	42	4.1	24
Bernalillo	23.5	348.0	0.2	135	1,320	222	3.8	223
Doña Ana	6.1	82.7	1.7	30	1,056	364	(5)	-
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (2) Percent changes were computed from employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications. (3) Ranking does not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (5) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
Note: Data are preliminary. Dashes indicate data not applicable or available. Covered employment and wages include workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Table 2. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the United States and all counties in New Mexico, fourth quarter 2025
Area	Establishments	Employment December 2025	Average weekly wage ($) (1)
United States (2)	12,428,415	156,700,218	1,569
New Mexico	69,695	875,271	1,275
Bernalillo	23,531	348,045	1,320
Catron	146	678	876
Chaves	1,846	21,972	992
Cibola	487	7,254	1,019
Colfax	548	3,967	961
Curry	1,375	18,302	990
De Baca	84	422	957
Doña Ana	6,053	82,689	1,056
Eddy	2,067	34,388	1,618
Grant	777	9,448	1,098
Guadalupe	178	1,502	896
Harding	32	187	1,008
Hidalgo	166	1,311	1,242
Lea	2,237	33,802	1,468
Lincoln	901	6,495	939
Los Alamos	613	22,225	2,444
Luna	585	8,080	1,059
Mckinley	1,227	19,565	964
Mora	140	681	1,300
Otero	1,364	17,535	1,017
Quay	336	2,564	904
Rio Arriba	879	9,442	1,043
Roosevelt	487	5,954	929
Sandoval	3,474	35,354	1,218
San Juan	3,128	47,171	1,196
San Miguel	800	7,967	914
Santa Fe	6,881	62,541	1,365
Sierra	379	3,739	915
Socorro	384	4,853	1,031
Taos	1,466	11,294	972
Torrance	383	3,168	1,109
Union	180	1,218	960
Valencia	1,612	18,254	1,039
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
Note: Data are preliminary. Dashes indicate data not applicable or available. Covered employment and wages include workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Table 3. Covered establishments, employment, and wages by state, fourth quarter 2025
State	Establishments, fourth quarter (thousands)	Employment		Average weekly wage (1)
State	Establishments, fourth quarter (thousands)	December 2025 (thousands)	Percent change, December 2024–25	Fourth quarter 2025 ($)	National ranking by level	Percent change, fourth quarter 2024–25	National ranking by percent change
United States (2)	12,428.4	156,700.2	0.2	1,569	--	4.2	--
Alabama	167.4	2,135.3	0.5	1,301	36	3.7	37
Alaska	25.3	317.3	-0.3	1,497	16	4.7	14
Arizona	227.4	3,278.3	0.0	1,446	20	3.0	47
Arkansas	113.0	1,318.2	0.4	1,213	49	5.0	8
California	2,013.7	18,351.7	0.6	1,954	4	4.6	16
Colorado	258.5	2,896.4	-0.6	1,683	8	5.6	3
Connecticut	149.8	1,706.5	0.1	1,801	6	5.0	8
Delaware	47.3	481.0	0.1	1,502	15	4.7	14
District of Columbia	51.0	726.1	-4.5	2,587	1	4.1	24
Florida	886.2	10,013.2	0.3	1,471	17	4.8	12
Georgia	398.7	4,925.4	0.1	1,440	21	3.5	40
Hawaii	63.0	650.0	-0.2	1,411	25	5.0	8
Idaho	104.3	875.7	1.8	1,303	35	5.8	2
Illinois	387.7	6,089.5	-0.1	1,588	11	3.3	42
Indiana	195.6	3,211.2	0.1	1,276	40	4.5	17
Iowa	110.6	1,560.0	-0.2	1,282	39	3.7	37
Kansas	101.8	1,443.2	-0.1	1,268	44	4.1	24
Kentucky	161.3	2,008.7	-0.1	1,235	46	3.8	34
Louisiana	159.2	1,927.3	-0.5	1,267	45	3.2	44
Maine	67.6	644.7	-0.1	1,332	33	4.2	21
Maryland	199.5	2,754.6	-1.1	1,616	10	3.0	47
Massachusetts	298.5	3,625.5	-0.9	1,980	2	4.9	11
Michigan	316.9	4,412.7	0.0	1,427	23	4.2	21
Minnesota	215.2	2,948.0	0.0	1,505	14	3.7	37
Mississippi	92.2	1,180.9	0.3	1,075	51	5.1	7
Missouri	259.9	2,920.8	-0.1	1,324	34	4.4	18
Montana	62.3	512.3	-0.1	1,296	38	3.3	42
Nebraska	78.5	1,024.0	-0.2	1,275	42	4.0	31
Nevada	111.0	1,592.1	1.7	1,395	27	3.2	44
New Hampshire	67.9	688.8	-0.6	1,652	9	4.8	12
New Jersey	343.1	4,343.1	0.2	1,691	7	3.9	33
New Mexico	69.7	875.3	-0.3	1,275	42	4.1	24
New York	719.1	9,907.5	0.4	1,975	3	5.4	4
North Carolina	392.1	4,991.1	0.9	1,409	26	3.8	34
North Dakota	37.0	430.4	-0.2	1,350	31	2.7	49
Ohio	348.5	5,554.4	0.0	1,358	30	4.1	24
Oklahoma	129.3	1,717.1	0.1	1,217	48	4.1	24
Oregon	177.9	1,975.8	-1.0	1,468	19	3.2	44
Pennsylvania	398.1	6,094.8	0.2	1,470	18	4.0	31
Rhode Island	49.1	500.3	-0.1	1,429	22	6.0	1
South Carolina	192.4	2,344.7	1.5	1,276	40	4.3	20
South Dakota	41.2	458.9	-0.2	1,230	47	4.1	24
Tennessee	225.2	3,281.6	-0.3	1,424	24	3.8	34
Texas	860.8	14,255.2	0.8	1,549	13	4.2	21
Utah	144.6	1,761.6	1.4	1,389	28	4.1	24
Vermont	34.5	309.3	-0.9	1,378	29	5.3	5
Virginia	324.0	4,166.9	0.5	1,585	12	2.6	50
Washington	242.1	3,590.3	-0.3	1,948	5	2.4	51
West Virginia	62.8	698.3	-0.6	1,203	50	3.5	40
Wisconsin	213.9	2,946.2	-0.1	1,346	32	5.3	5
Wyoming	31.7	278.4	-0.8	1,297	37	4.4	18
Puerto Rico	53.5	974.7	-0.2	735	(3)	2.8	(3)
Virgin Islands	3.0	34.7	0.3	1,068	(3)	2.7	(3)
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (3) Data not included in the national ranking.
Note: Data are preliminary. Dashes indicate data not applicable or available. Covered employment and wages include workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Last Modified Date: Thursday, June 11, 2026

Southwest Information Office

County Employment and Wages in New Mexico — Fourth Quarter 2025

(U.S. average = $1,569)