Living In A "Minimalist" County
By Mike Bibb
Harding County Courthouse, Mosquero, NM. New Mexico Main Street, Department of Economic Development
There's a county in New Mexico with a population smaller than a packed high school football stadium on game night in Silver City.
In fact, it's about the 10th least populated county in the entire United States.
They have a sheriff and sanitation services and most of the other stuff regular sized counties offer.
Yet, the entire population of Harding County is less than 700 people.
Equally amazing, the tiny village of Mosquero, with fewer than a hundred citizens, is the county seat, complete with a functioning court house.
Downtown Mosquero, NM — New Mexico Main Street, Department of Economic Development.
The rural community of Roy, slightly larger than Mosquero, is the other little town in the county.
Combined, Mosquero and Roy have less than 200 school students.
Lending additional perspective to this phenomenon, Bernalillo County, and the city of Albuquerque, have about 673,930 inhabitants.
Named after the 29th President of the United States, Warren G. Harding, the sparsely populated county has seen a dwindling decline in residents since the 1930 census reported 4,421 people.
The obvious question arises, how many working adults are in the area, and what do they do?
Various forms of city, county and state government employment must be substantial contributors to the local economy. Ranching is the main business.
Plus, there's a few mom and pop shops scattered about — gas station, grocery store, taco stand, small motel, a bar or two and an ATM somewhere.
Seriously, 700 people cannot generate enough personal, business, sales and property taxes to maintain even court house offices and staff. There are simply not enough working people in the county.
According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Labor Force Participation Rate for June 2026 was 61.5%. About 6 in 10 people were working or looking for work.
Applying those numbers to Harding County would indicate around 420 of the 700 folks would be receiving some kind of income.
Additionally, children under 16 years old, and seniors over 65 years old, reduce the available labor force even more.
Actually, I'm not sure the statistics are that high. Harding County does not have an industrial base, government military installation or other substantial revenue generating businesses.
The county has 348,600 acres of federal land and 70,500 acres of state land.
Undoubtedly, state and federal assistance must be the glue holding this county together. In effect, it would seem Harding County's existence is predicated upon a steady stream of state and federal dollars.
Which, in turn, is gathered from other sources.
There is another oddity about the county — even in predominately Blue New Mexico, Harding County is conservative in presidential elections. It last supported a Democrat for president in 1948 (Harry Truman), and that was by a margin of just 4 votes. It twice voted for Donald Trump by 59.01% in 2016, and 68.91% in 2024. — Wikipedia.
Apparently, there are similar Harding County scenarios in the country. Texas has several counties with less than a thousand citizens (Texas has 254 counties. Why, I don't know. Glad I went to school in Arizona, where I only had to memorize 14 counties and county seats — now, 15).
Alaska, has a couple of counties with diminutive populations. Although Alaska is geographically over twice the size of Texas, and a much smaller population, it has "30 county equivalent divisions, consisting of 19 boroughs, and 11 census areas." — Copilot Search, July 15, 2026.
New Mexico was admitted into the Union in 1912, a few weeks before Arizona.
However, its population substantially trails Arizona: NM - 2,125,498, AZ - 7,268,175. Around 3.5 times larger.
New Mexico's income ranking also lags Arizona's: NM - 43, AZ - 20.
There are at least eight Fortune 500 companies in Arizona, while New Mexico has none.
Generally, it can be assumed New Mexico's population growth and economic development are in the lower fourth of the nation's rankings.
Which might be a sign NM's politics and state government management policies are not compatible with business or incentivize people to move into the state to create businesses.
If work isn't available or discouraged, then what's the purpose of remaining in the area?
In turn, this could also be a couple of reasons we've seen Harding County almost totally collapse over the years, and New Mexico's growth rate moving along at a snail's pace.
"Between 2015 and 2025, New Mexico's population has increased by 1.4%. During that same period, the US population grew by 6.2%. New Mexico ranks 39th among states in population growth over that decade." — USA Facts, July 6, 2026.
If there's little reason to develop and prosper in a community or state, then many people will go someplace where there is.
In New Mexico's case, maybe next door to Arizona or Texas.
