Albuquerque Authority

Also known as: Albuquerque Metro Authority

Albuquerque is a middle-income mid-sized city of 562,218.

Albuquerque sits at roughly 5,300 feet above sea level in the middle of the Rio Grande valley, which is the kind of geographic fact that explains a surprising number of other facts about the place — its light, its air, its weather, and the particular quality of its summer afternoons. It is the largest city in New Mexico, with a population of 562,218 according to Census ACS 5-Year 2024 estimates, and it occupies a position in Bernalillo County that is, by any reasonable measure, the economic and cultural center of the state.

Population and Demographics

The median age in Albuquerque is 38.8 years, per Census ACS data, which places it in the range demographers tend to describe as family-oriented. Children under 18 account for 20.3 percent of the population, numbering approximately 114,181 residents. The 18-to-34 cohort, at 134,881, represents a substantial share of the city's working-age population, a figure that reflects in part the presence of the University of New Mexico and several other higher-education institutions within city limits.

Economy and Income

The median household income in Albuquerque stands at $68,317, with a per capita income of $39,117, according to Census ACS 5-Year 2023 estimates. The city's labor force numbers 296,349, with an unemployment rate of 5.3 percent and 15,623 residents counted as unemployed. Poverty affects a significant portion of the population: 88,830 residents fall below the poverty threshold, a figure that contextualizes many of the city's ongoing policy conversations about housing, services, and economic development.

Housing and Affordability

Albuquerque's price-to-income ratio sits at 4.3, and rent consumes approximately 20.1 percent of median income, according to calculations derived from Census median income and home value data. The city is classified as not affordable by that measure, though the interpretation is characterized as moderate — meaning it occupies a middle ground between the acute housing stress visible in coastal metros and the relative ease of smaller inland cities. The total housing stock, per Census ACS 5-Year 2023, reflects a city that has grown steadily over decades without the dramatic supply constraints that define markets like San Francisco or Boston.

Air Quality

The EPA's AQI Annual Summary for 2024 recorded 366 days of air quality monitoring in Albuquerque. Of those, 100 were classified as good days and 233 as moderate. The city recorded 26 unhealthy-for-sensitive-groups days, 4 unhealthy days, 1 very unhealthy day, and 2 hazardous days. The maximum AQI recorded during the year reached 443, a figure that reflects episodic events — wildfire smoke being the most common culprit in the region — rather than chronic industrial pollution. Residents with respiratory conditions, and those who advise them, tend to watch the AQI calendar with some attention.

Broadband Access

According to FCC Broadband Data Collection figures as of June 2025, Albuquerque achieves full coverage at the 25/3 Mbps, 100/20 Mbps, and 250/25 Mbps thresholds across its 282,745 housing units. Coverage at the 1,000/100 Mbps tier reaches approximately 30.2 percent of units — a figure that reflects the ongoing buildout of fiber infrastructure in the metro area and suggests meaningful variation in service quality across neighborhoods.

Climate

The nearest NOAA monitoring station, the Rio Grande Nature Center, located 3.8 miles from the city center, records an average temperature of 57.6 degrees Fahrenheit and annual precipitation of 6.8 inches, per NOAA ACIS data. That precipitation figure is low enough to classify Albuquerque as a semi-arid city, and it shapes everything from landscaping norms to water policy. The Rio Grande, which runs through the city, is fed largely by snowmelt from the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan mountains rather than local rainfall — a hydrological arrangement that makes upstream conditions in Colorado and northern New Mexico consequential for Albuquerque's water supply.

Education

The University of New Mexico-Main Campus, the city's flagship institution, enrolls 17,244 students and carries an admission rate of 95.18 percent, per College Scorecard data. In-state tuition runs $10,140; out-of-state tuition is $33,060. The average SAT score among enrolled students is 1,038, and the completion rate reflects the institution's open-access mission and the economic diversity of its student body. The city is home to 10 colleges and universities in total, per NCES IPEDS 2022 data, ranging from community colleges to specialized professional programs.

Albuquerque's K-12 system includes 200 schools, according to entity-level data, serving a population in which children under 18 number over 114,000. Childcare infrastructure is substantial: 173 licensed childcare centers operate within the city, per state facility records, ranging from large center-based programs to smaller licensed providers.

Civic and Cultural Infrastructure

The city supports 34 arts organizations, per IRS Exempt Organizations data, including the New Mexico Ballet Company, Opera Southwest, and the Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Twenty-one civic service organizations are registered, including chapters of Civitan International and other fraternal and service bodies. There are 283 churches registered as tax-exempt organizations within the city, per IRS Exempt Organizations records — a count that reflects Albuquerque's long history as a place where Catholic, Protestant, Indigenous, and other religious traditions have coexisted in close proximity.

Five animal rescue organizations operate in the city, and 39 attractions are catalogued nearby, including the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at 1.1 miles from the city center and the Grand Lodge Library and Museum at the city's core.

Banking and Financial Services

The FDIC Institutions and Branches database records multiple bank branches operating within Albuquerque, including First National Bank Texas and U.S. Bank National Association, among others. The Black Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico is the chamber of commerce matched to the city via the IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File.

Regulatory and Legal Framework

Albuquerque's municipal code is maintained and published through Municode and is accessible at https://library.municode.com/nm/albuquerque-city-new-mexico. The city's zoning framework was enacted by Ordinance No. 101-98, adopted July 13, 1998, per the municipal code record, with subsequent amendments noted in the code's history provisions.

At the state level, New Mexico Statutes Annotated § 61-1-37 establishes that residency in New Mexico is not a requirement for professional or occupational licensure. The statute, as amended effective July 1, 2023, under Laws 2023, ch. 190, § 26, provides that a person who otherwise meets the requirements for a professional or occupational license shall not be denied licensure or license renewal because the person does not live in New Mexico. This provision is relevant to any licensed professional considering practice in Albuquerque from out of state.

Further Reading

• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates — https://data.census.gov
• Federal Communications Commission, Broadband Data Collection
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, AQI Annual Summary 2024
• National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS Institutional Data — https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/
• City of Albuquerque, Municipal Code — https://library.municode.com/nm/albuquerque-city-new-mexico