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Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Rio Rancho, New Mexico
City
Aerial view of suburban Rio Rancho
Aerial view of suburban Rio Rancho
Official seal of Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Seal
Nickname(s): "The City of Vision"
Location in New Mexico
Location in New Mexico
Rio Rancho, New Mexico is located in the US
Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 35°17′10″N 106°40′14″W / 35.28611°N 106.67056°W / 35.28611; -106.67056Coordinates: 35°17′10″N 106°40′14″W / 35.28611°N 106.67056°W / 35.28611; -106.67056
Country United States
State New Mexico
Counties Sandoval, Bernalillo
Founded 1961
Incorporated 1981
Government
 • Mayor Gregg Hull
Area
 • City 103.7 sq mi (268.5 km2)
 • Land 103.4 sq mi (267.7 km2)
 • Water 0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2)
Elevation 5,282 ft (1,610 m)
Population (2010)
 • City 87,521
 • Estimate (2012) 90,818
 • Density 847/sq mi (327.0/km2)
 • Metro 907,755 (MSA)
Time zone Mountain (UTC-7)
 • Summer (DST) Mountain (UTC-6)
ZIP codes 87124, 87144, 87174
Area code(s) 505
FIPS code 35-63460
GNIS feature ID 1699884
Website www.ci.rio-rancho.nm.us
Largest Employers in Rio Rancho
1 Intel Corporation
2 Rio Rancho Public Schools
3 Hewlett-Packard
4 Presbyterian Health Services
5 Sprint Corporation
6 Bank of America
7 Stream Global
8 Alliance Data Inc.
9 U.S. Cotton
10 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Rio Rancho (Spanish: Río Rancho) is the largest city and economic hub of Sandoval County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. A small portion of the city extends into northern Bernalillo County. It is the third-largest and also one of the fastest expanding cities in New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, Rio Rancho had a population of 93,820.

Rio Rancho is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The Rio Rancho area was originally part of the Alameda Grant, which was founded by the Spanish in 1710. By the early 20th century, much of the land grant had been sold to land investment companies. Amrep Corporation purchased 55,000 acres (22,000 ha) in 1961 and turned the land into a housing development called "Rio Rancho Estates", with the first families moving in the early 1960s. Most of these early residents were New Yorkers, as the developers advertised heavily in New York media. The population grew ten-fold between 1970 and 1980, and the City of Rio Rancho was incorporated in 1981. The opening of a large Intel Corporation plant in 1981 had a major economic impact on the city.

Since the 1990s, Rio Rancho has taken steps to become more independent from neighboring Albuquerque, including the establishment of separate school and library systems and attempts to attract businesses to the area. The city's latest project is the Downtown City Centre development that includes a new city hall building, a new University of New Mexico West and Central New Mexico Community College campus, as well as the Santa Ana Star Center. The arena opened in October 2006. City Hall opened in September 2007.

Of 18,995 households, 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were not families; 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.14.


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