Safest places to live in New Mexico
The counties and cities with the lowest natural disaster risk, ranked from FEMA's National Risk Index and checked against storm, hurricane and earthquake records.
Luna County has the lowest natural disaster risk of the 19 New Mexico counties with 20,000 or more people, followed by Cibola County and Curry County. At the other end, Doña Ana County carries the highest risk in the state, mostly from inland flooding. Ranks use FEMA's overall risk score, which weighs expected yearly losses against how vulnerable and how resilient each county is.
Lowest-risk counties
All 33 counties ›25,370 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 4 tornadoes since 1950, 5 federal declarations.2Cibola County
27,085 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 2 tornadoes since 1950, 8 federal declarations.3Curry County
48,395 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 55 tornadoes since 1950, 4 federal declarations.4Grant County
28,092 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 7 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 11 federal declarations.5Taos County
34,371 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 2 tornadoes since 1950, 8 federal declarations.6San Miguel County
27,087 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 18 tornadoes since 1950, 19 federal declarations.7Sandoval County
148,310 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 11 tornadoes since 1950, 20 federal declarations.8McKinley County
72,241 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 5 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 9 federal declarations.9Lincoln County
20,041 people. Top hazard: Wildfire. 23 tornadoes since 1950, 33 federal declarations.10Rio Arriba County
40,200 people. Top hazard: Inland flooding. 2 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 15 federal declarations.
Lowest-risk cities
All cities ›Curry County, 37,942 people2Carlsbad
Eddy County, 31,746 people3Alamogordo
Otero County, 31,307 people4Santa Fe
Santa Fe County, 89,019 people5Hobbs
Lea County, 40,252 people6Roswell
Chaves County, 47,638 people7Farmington
San Juan County, 46,314 people8Albuquerque
Bernalillo County, 562,218 people9Rio Rancho
Bernalillo County, 108,515 people10South Valley
Bernalillo County, 37,120 people
Cities with 25,000 or more people. The rating is for the county the city is in.
Highest-risk counties
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 13 tornadoes since 1950, 8 federal declarations.2Bernalillo County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 17 tornadoes since 1950, 9 federal declarations.3San Juan County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 11 tornadoes since 1950, 1 magnitude 5+ quakes nearby, 10 federal declarations.4Chaves County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 53 tornadoes since 1950, 7 federal declarations.5Santa Fe County
Top hazard: Inland flooding. 27 tornadoes since 1950, 8 federal declarations.
Before you move
A county rating is an average. Inside any county, homes near rivers, coasts or steep slopes carry more risk than the rest. Look up the exact address with our flood zone lookup, ask the seller about past flood or storm claims, and get an insurance quote before you commit.
Questions
What is the safest county in New Mexico from natural disasters?
Luna County has the lowest overall risk score among New Mexico counties with 20,000 or more people, rated low by FEMA's National Risk Index. Its biggest remaining hazard is inland flooding.
What is the safest city in New Mexico from natural disasters?
Clovis sits in Curry County, which has the lowest risk score of any New Mexico county containing a city of 25,000 or more people. County ratings cover the whole county, so check the flood zone of any address you are considering.
Which counties in New Mexico have the highest disaster risk?
Doña Ana County, Bernalillo County and San Juan County have the highest overall risk scores in the state.
Does a low rating mean no disasters?
No. A low rating means lower expected losses compared with other US counties, after accounting for how many people and buildings are exposed and how well the area recovers. Floods and severe storms can happen anywhere, and most flood claims come from outside mapped high-risk zones.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); NOAA Storm Events and HURDAT2; USGS earthquake catalog; OpenFEMA declarations since 1953.