Do you consider yourself an outdoor enthusiast? If so, Albuquerque might be just the place for you. You don’t even have to restrict your activities to the ground because, in addition to skiing, rafting, golfing and biking, the city is the hot air ballooning capital of the world.
It’s perhaps no surprise then that Albuquerque is growing. In fact, the metro area added nearly 5,000 new residents between July 2015 and July 2016, according to the latest census data. During that time, the population went from 905,174 to 909,906, a 0.52 percent increase. Bernalillo County, the city of where Albuquerque is located, grew slightly more slowly during that time, going from 674,959 to 676,953 people, a 0.3 percent increase. (The metro area is larger than the county, so its population is bigger.)
Some of that growth comes from new births and immigration, but a good chunk of it is also due to people moving into Albuquerque from other places in the U.S. Indeed, Bernalillo County attracted 33,044 domestic movers from 2011 to 2015, according to another census study that covers those years.
So, if the skies over Albuquerque feel a little more crowded these days, you may be wondering where all those people are coming from. That same census study gives us a pretty good idea. The majority, 54 percent, is moving in from other places in the U.S., mostly from neighboring Southwestern states. The rest, 46 percent, is moving from within New Mexico.
Below are rankings for the top five counties of origin for movers to Bernalillo County:
Movers outside of New Mexico:
- Maricopa County, AZ (Phoenix)
- El Paso County, TX
- Los Angeles County, CA
- San Diego County, CA
- Denver County, CO
Movers from New Mexico:
- Sandoval County
- Santa Fe County
- Valencia County
- Doña Ana County
- McKinley County
Above are the top places inside New Mexico that people moved to Bernalillo County from over the five-year period 2011-2015. Numbers represent the number of movers from that place during the period.
