County Maps US

Lea County, New Mexico

A county in New Mexico, ranked 7 of 33 by population.

CountyFIPS 35025

Within New Mexico
Lea County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Lovington, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
74,749
+115 (+0.2%) since 2020
Land area
4,392
square miles. A further 0.1% of the total area is water
Population density
17.0
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Lovington
Seat of county government.
Established
1917
108 years ago
Largest city
Hobbs city
Population 40,863.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Lea County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Lea County, New Mexico from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 377 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Lea County ranks

Position among the 33 counties of New Mexico, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn New MexicoNationally
Population74,7497th of 33756th of 3,144
Land area4,392 sq mi11th of 33104th of 3,144
Population density17.0 per sq mi9th of 332,331st of 3,144
Median household income$68,0156th of 321,341st of 3,143

Full data for Lea County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population74,749Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202074,634Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?74,452Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area4,392 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area3.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area4,395 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?17.0 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$68,015American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$184,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age32.5American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households24,670American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units28,403American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+233
841 births, 608 deaths
Net migration
+59
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 9 areas bordering Lea County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Eddy CountyNew Mexico72 mi62,509
Chaves CountyNew Mexico59 mi63,364
Gaines CountyTexas30 mi23,956
Andrews CountyTexas30 mi18,914
Yoakum CountyTexas30 mi7,438
Roosevelt CountyNew Mexico26 mi18,615
Loving CountyTexas23 mi52
Winkler CountyTexas21 mi7,540
Cochran CountyTexas13 mi2,546

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 33 counties of New Mexico

Open the interactive New Mexico county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.