Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+38%. Republican peak: R+56 in 1972.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+38MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 20,2242024 5-year
- Median household income
- $53,3032024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 69.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 33.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+31 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+56 in 1972MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Ruidoso, NM, NMOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 3,033 | 6,942 | 10,165 | ||
| R | 3,194 | 6,942 | 10,306 | ||
| R | 2,331 | 5,896 | 8,902 | ||
| R | 2,942 | 5,961 | 9,242 | ||
| R | 3,535 | 6,001 | 9,696 | ||
| R | 2,822 | 6,070 | 9,014 | ||
| R | 2,027 | 4,458 | 6,772 | ||
| R | 2,209 | 3,396 | 6,411 | ||
| R | 1,730 | 2,669 | 5,857 | ||
| R | 1,690 | 3,511 | 5,288 | ||
| R | 1,134 | 3,992 | 5,182 | ||
| R | 1,127 | 3,009 | 4,374 | ||
| R | 1,415 | 2,320 | 3,764 | ||
| R | 696 | 2,528 | 3,280 | ||
| R | 802 | 2,004 | 3,106 | ||
| R | 1,565 | 1,761 | 3,351 | ||
| R | 1,459 | 2,042 | 3,503 | ||
| R | 1,059 | 1,956 | 3,020 | ||
| R | 1,095 | 2,004 | 3,106 | ||
| R | 1,406 | 1,575 | 3,005 | ||
| R | 1,342 | 1,455 | 2,801 | ||
| R | 1,763 | 1,794 | 3,570 | ||
| D | 2,021 | 1,579 | 3,641 | ||
| D | 2,225 | 1,172 | 3,418 | ||
| R | 821 | 1,489 | 2,315 | ||
| R | 837 | 1,087 | 2,216 | ||
| R | 1,047 | 1,456 | 2,540 | ||
| R | 863 | 889 | 1,796 | ||
| D | 461 | 452 | 1,127 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
14.2%
English
13.4%
German
11.9%
Irish
9.8%
Scottish
3.1%
French
1.8%
Italian
1.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 52.4 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$53,303
Ruidoso, NM ranks near the middle of US counties.
Ruidoso, NM$53,303
New Mexico$64,059
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
19.3%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1832.6%
Working age (18–64)18.3%
Seniors (65+)7.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
82.1%
speak English only
Spanish15.5%
Other languages1.3%
Other Indo-European0.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 53.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Ruidoso sits at 6,900 feet in the Sacramento Mountains, drawing seasonal residents and retirees whose part-time presence complicates voter registration patterns and turnout modeling in Lincoln County.
The Democratic margin in Ruidoso, NM peaked at thirty-one points in 1932. By 1940 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty-eight points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $53,303 sits well below state and national norms, and 19% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/40760/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico vote in 2024?
In 2024, Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico voted Republican by 38.5 points (R+38), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 10,165 votes cast, 3,033 went Democratic and 6,942 went Republican.
What is Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 3 times, Republican 26 times, and other 0 times.
When did Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico voted Democratic was 1936.
How many people live in Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico?
Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico has a population of 20,224 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico?
Median household income in Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico is $53,303 — below the national median of $80,734. The New Mexico state median is $64,059.
What is the political history of Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Ruidoso, NM, New Mexico from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 3 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.