Guadalupe County, New Mexico Eviction Risk: Low

Guadalupe County, New Mexico scores 3.6/10 on the eviction-risk index, placing it in the Low risk tier and ranking 27th of 34 New Mexico counties by risk. That rank means 26 counties in the state carry higher risk for landlords, and only 7 are considered more landlord-friendly, putting Guadalupe County firmly in the lower-risk third of New Mexico. Across the county's 5 tracked cities, individual scores span from 2.8 to 3.8, a range that matters for site selection. The average renter in this market pays $679 per month, with a rent burden of 26.5% of income, and renters make up 32.5% of the county's roughly 3,367 residents.

For landlords evaluating small-county rural New Mexico markets, Guadalupe County represents a comparatively low-friction operating environment. The population base is limited, which constrains both tenant pool depth and rental demand, but the tradeoff is that eviction pressure indicators, political risk, and regulatory exposure all read well below the state average. Investors entering here should size their expectations accordingly and stress-test vacancy assumptions against the thin local economy before committing capital.

The cities inside Guadalupe County

Santa Rosa is the county seat and by far its most significant rental market, with a population of 2,462 and an eviction-risk score of 3.8/10, the highest in the county. That score is still Low by the index's standards, but it sits at the upper edge of the county range. Landlords operating in Santa Rosa face modestly more exposure than elsewhere in the county, largely because the larger tenant population and more active rental market introduce more variables. Pastura scores 3.3/10, and Vaughn, with a population of 493, comes in at 3.1/10.

The lowest-risk location in the county is Puerto de Luna at 2.8/10, with a population of 378. Newkirk scores 3/10 but has a population of only 32. Risk is genuinely hyper-local even within a small county like this: the gap between Puerto de Luna and Santa Rosa is a full point on the index, which can translate into meaningfully different tenant dynamics and collection outcomes. Landlords with flexibility on location should weigh each city's score individually rather than relying on the county average.

State-level laws that apply here

All landlords in Guadalupe County operate under NMSA § 47-8, the Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act. For non-payment of rent, New Mexico state law requires only a 3-day notice before proceeding. Lease violations with a right to cure carry a 7-day notice, and no-cause terminations at end of term require 30 days. Landlords must give 24 hours notice before entering an occupied unit. Understanding the full New Mexico eviction process is essential before acquiring rental property here, because uncontested cases typically resolve in 21 to 45 days, while contested matters can run 45 to 120 days.

New Mexico eviction costs under state law include court filing fees of $132 to $200, sheriff lockout fees of $50 to $175, and attorney fees ranging from $500 to $3,000 depending on case complexity, meaning a single eviction can total well over $3,000 on the high end. New Mexico security deposit limits and New Mexico tenant protections are set at the state level: there is no statewide rent control, no just-cause eviction requirement, and source of income is not a protected class under state law, all of which favor landlord flexibility.

With a poverty rate of 21.9% and renters comprising 32.5% of the population, collection risk warrants attention in individual submarkets; the city-level scores in the grid above show where that exposure is concentrated.