City · Cibola County, New Mexico

Grants, New Mexico

Grants is a city in Cibola County, New Mexico. It has 8,951 residents. Grants, New Mexico has a quality-of-life score of 10 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,072 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within New Mexico it ranks #85 of 163 cities and towns. It ranks best on students per teacher (low), fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low) and preventable hospital stays (low). It ranks worst on mammography screening (low), mental health care shortage (high) and voter turnout (low).

10Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,072 of 15,651 cities and towns
New Mexico: #85 of 163 in NM
Population: 8,951 (2020-2024)
Land area: 15 mi²
Density: 602.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 3530490

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety26#11,497/15,637
Economy2#15,360/15,631
Housing41#8,860/14,977
Health10#14,088/15,609
Healthcare28#11,324/15,650
Environment85#2,351/15,453
Education25#11,676/15,649
Infrastructure17#13,038/15,650
Community4#15,095/15,651
Leisure & amenities4#15,059/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Grants, New Mexico ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Cibola County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Students per teacher · low9.5×
99/100New Mexico 13.1×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsCibola County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.8 µg/m³
97/100New Mexico 5.9 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyCibola County value
Preventable hospital stays · low1,699 /100k
93/100New Mexico 2,042 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCibola County value
Average commute time · low16.4 min
91/100New Mexico 23.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Time spent in the emergency room · low115 min
90/100New Mexico 169 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCibola County value
Comfortable days · high31.6%
85/100New Mexico 31.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationCibola County value

Weaknesses

Mammography screening · low24.0%
1/100New Mexico 38.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCibola County value
Mental health care shortage · high20.0
1/100New Mexico 16.6United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationCibola County value
Voter turnout · low44.4%
1/100New Mexico 59.7%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionCibola County value
Child poverty rate · high53.3%
1/100New Mexico 20.5%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Traffic deaths · high56.6 /100k
1/100New Mexico 20.7 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataCibola County value
Primary care shortage · high20.0
1/100New Mexico 16.1United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationCibola County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
38.4% (2015-2019) → 60.7% (2020-2024)
+22 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
67.7% (2015-2019) → 84.6% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
38.5% (2015-2019) → 53.3% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateWorsening
25.4% (2015-2019) → 34.1% (2020-2024)
+8.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
26.9% (2015-2019) → 32.9% (2020-2024)
+6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
15.4% (2015-2019) → 19.3% (2020-2024)
+3.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Grants, New Mexico improved on 1 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 4. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+17 points67.7% → 84.6%

Declined4

Child poverty+15 points38.5% → 53.3%
Rent burden+22 points38.4% → 60.7%
Inequality+0.0610.444 → 0.505
Rent / income+6 points26.9% → 32.9%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Grants, New Mexico between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.6 min2015-2019	16.4 min2020-2024	−0.1 min	Within the margin of error	49%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.4%2015-2019	19.3%2020-2024	+3.9 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Broadband subscriptions	67.7%2015-2019	84.6%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	85%
Child poverty rate	38.5%2015-2019	53.3%2020-2024	+15 points	Declined	8%
Effective property tax rate	0.80%2015-2019	0.75%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	26%
High school diploma or higher	81.6%2015-2019	80.3%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Home price to income ratio	2.5×2015-2019	2.9×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	52%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4442015-2019	0.5052020-2024	+0.061	Declined	13%
Median household income	$41,4752015-2019	$47,1832020-2024	+14%	Within the margin of error	22%
Poverty rate	25.4%2015-2019	34.1%2020-2024	+8.7 points	Within the margin of error	5%
Rent as share of income	26.9%2015-2019	32.9%2020-2024	+6 points	Declined	18%
Rent-burdened households	38.4%2015-2019	60.7%2020-2024	+22 points	Declined	7%
Unemployment rate	8.5%2015-2019	6.0%2020-2024	−2.5 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.0%2015-2019	6.8%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	50%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Grants, New Mexico five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Grants, New Mexico in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Grants, New Mexico itself moved −12.8 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

8,951 residents (±23)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

2,919 households (±273)

Grants, New Mexico
New Mexico share

Under $25k31%†910
$25k–50k20%†585
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

2,919 households (±273)

Grants, New Mexico
New Mexico share

Own60%1,739
Rent40%1,180

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

2,858 workers (±359)

Grants, New Mexico
New Mexico share

Drive alone69%1,959
Carpool8.3%†238
Public transit0.0%0

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Cibola County, the county holding most of Grants's residents.

Cibola County has 288 employer establishments, 108 for every 10,000 residents (0.43× the US rate of 248; 0.51× New Mexico's), with 5,250 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,062. The Census Bureau also counts 1,068 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 288; 1,068 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 108; US 248 · New Mexico 212
Paid employees: 5,250
Average annual pay: $44,062; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Cibola County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	30	11.2	0.61×Fewer than typical	482	$20,873	14
Ambulatory health care services	25	9.3	0.45×Fewer than typical	790	$40,991	129
Gasoline stations	17	6.3	1.96×More than typical	376	$27,572	—
Specialty trade contractors	16	6	0.39×Fewer than typical	115	$49,278	67
Traveler accommodation	15	5.6	3.10×More than typical	568	$29,637	4
Limited-service restaurants	14	5.2	0.65×Fewer than typical	349	$20,458	5
Religious organizations	13	4.9	0.88×About typical	50	$20,100	—
Full-service restaurants	12	4.5	0.58×Fewer than typical	118	$22,805	5
Building equipment contractors	8	3	0.50×Too few to compare	38	$43,079	16
Home health care services	8	3	2.47×Too few to compare	635	$33,598	108
Individual and family services	8	3	1.07×Too few to compare	236	$9,331	5
Automotive repair and maintenance	7	2.6	0.52×Too few to compare	41	$42,927	14

Rank places for an industry Open Cibola County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 26,778 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $586.8K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Grants, New Mexico: $65.56 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $586.8K; +386% vs FY2025
Per resident: $65.56; US $1,994
Sole-source: 88%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.5%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement$518.3K88%
Environmental Protection Agency$37.8K6.4%
Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education$13.3K2.3%
Bureau of Land Management$9,5841.6%
National Park Service$3,1110.5%
Forest Service$3,0050.5%
Federal Acquisition Service$1,6960.3%

Top recipients

CORECIVIC, INC.$518.3K88%
TETRA TECH, INC.$37.8K6.4%
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC.$12.3K2.1%
PROJECT SOLUTIONS, INC.$2,5820.4%
VISIONARY EXPERTS LLC$2,2020.4%

Spending by fiscal year

-3.1KFY2017
20.7KFY2018
29.5KFY2019
28.8KFY2020
17.5KFY2021
29.4KFY2022
73.3KFY2023
39KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Investigation and security services · 5616$518.3K88%
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services · 5416$37.8K6.4%
Electric power generation, transmission and distribution · 2211$12.3K2.1%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362$4,3410.7%
Other specialty trade contractors · 2389$2,8840.5%
Architectural and structural metals manufacturing · 3323

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Grants, New Mexico, so they do not add up across cities.

Grants, New Mexico's figures are part of those of Cibola County, NM ($12.5M in FY2026), never added to them: 4.7% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Grants is mostly in Cibola County.

See federal money in Cibola County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Grants, New Mexico is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Gabe VasquezD-NM-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 89%Missed 0.7%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Cibola County10100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Cibola County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3530490

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends