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Restaurants in New Mexico

How many restaurants exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 4 New Mexico counties we cover, by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Data: Census ZBP 2023 + ACS 2024 + BLS QCEW.

Includes: Sit-down restaurants with table service. Counted together because official statistics use one 722511 code.

State verdict (covered counties): Below the U.S. rate — 82% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in New Mexico

Restaurants

741

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

5.2

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

6.4

per 10,000 present

State index

82%

vs. U.S.

Residents

1,216,248

in covered counties

Workers

405,630

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 4 New Mexico counties BizGapMap covers — not the whole state. Counts and the index reflect those counties. The aggregate index uses only ZIP cells Census published, so it is a lower bound. Density is a supply-side signal: it counts existing restaurants and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more.

Counties in New Mexico

City	County	Restaurants	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
Santa Fe	Santa Fe County	167–187	155,624	47,935	9.3	146–154%	Range spans bands
Albuquerque	Bernalillo County	437–483	670,037	273,695	5.4	85–87%	Below average
Las Cruces	Doña Ana County	93–141	236,770	56,133	3.5	55–76%	Range spans bands
Rio Rancho	Sandoval County	44–64	153,817	27,867	2.6	41–58%	Well below average

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

146%

85%

55%

41%

Most competitors per capita

41%

55%

85%

146%

Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A county with few restaurants may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. Use the ranking to find where to look, then verify locally.

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BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.