Lea County, New Mexico

Lea County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 55,511. Its is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 11,380 (4,394 ). 11,378 km² (4,393 sq mi) of it is land and 3 km² (1 sq mi) of it (0.02%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * - north
 * - west
 * - west
 * - south
 * - southeast
 * - east
 * - east
 * - east
 * - northeast

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 55,511 people, 19,699 households, and 14,715 families residing in the county. The was 5/km² (13/sq mi). There were 23,405 housing units at an average density of 2/km² (5/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 67.13%, 4.37% or , 0.99% , 0.39% , 0.04% , 23.81% from , and 3.27% from two or more races. 39.65% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 19,699 households out of which 39.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.80% were living together, 12.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.30% were non-families. 22.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.20.

In the county the population was spread out with 30.10% under the age of 18, 10.10% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 20.30% from 45 to 64, and 12.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 100.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,799, and the median income for a family was $34,665. Males had a median income of $32,005 versus $20,922 for females. The for the county was $14,184. About 17.30% of families and 21.10% of the population were below the, including 28.00% of those under age 18 and 14.90% of those age 65 or over.

Presidential Voting
In the 2004 Presidential election, Lea County was the top New Mexico county, as far as percentage, for Republican George W. Bush. He beat John Kerry 79%-20%.