New Mexico in Context

New Mexico in Context

In New Mexico, more than 46,000 children and teens are enrolled in an afterschool program. More than 124,000 are waiting for an available program.

New Mexico is a state rich in cultural diversity and very much in need of programs that face up to the social and economic challenges that impact the quality of life for children and youth. The fifth largest state in area, its two million people have the second highest poverty rate in the nation (19.7%). Approximately 27% of students live in poverty and 41.9% live in single-parent households; 28% speak a language other than English at home, 20% live in high poverty areas, and only 71.1% graduate high school on time (the lowest graduation rate in the U.S.). New Mexico is also 6th in the nation for youth suicides.

New Mexico has the second largest proportion of Native Americans of the 50 states, with 23 Native American tribes and pueblos, and 76% of New Mexico students are students of color. Twenty-seven of New Mexico’s 33 counties are classified as frontier counties, accounting for 38.2% of the population. New Mexico has 89 school districts, a large majority of which are rural and 978 schools with 318,621 students.

For more data on New Mexico's out-of-school time landscape, see our New Mexico After 3PM 2020 page.