The La Plata Mountains, seen from San Juan County, are a small subrange of the San Juan Mountains in sw Colorado, and includes Hesperus Mountain at 13,332 feet.
Navajo Lake is a 3800 feet long and 400 feet deep reservoir located in northeastern San Juan County, created from a dam completed in 1962.
Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness (Bisti Badlands) is a 45,000-acre wilderness area full of rock formations made of sandstone, shale, mudstone, and silt.
The Aztec Ruins National Monument, on 318 acres, consists of dwellings and sacred structures built by Ancient Pueblo Indians in the 12th and 13th Centuries.
The eggs and hoodoos in the Bisti Wilderness were formed in sand and silt revealed 73 million years ago when the Western Interior Seaway receded.
The San Juan River is a 383 mile long major tributary of the Colorado River and a primary drainage for the Four Corners.
Shiprock (Tsé Bitʼaʼí, "rock with wings") is a 27 million year old volcanic rock formation, designated as a National Natural Landmark, rising 1,583 feet above the desert.
Angel Peak Scenic Area is located 15 miles south of Bloomfield in San Juan County, with over 10,000 acres of rugged terrain, badlands and deep canyons.

Life Expectancy & Leading Causes of Death

Category: Health & Wellness

Life Expectancy

The estimated life expectancy from birth for San Juan County residents is 73.6 years, with newborn girls expected to live about 7.3 years longer than boys.

San Juan County's life expectancy is below New Mexico's life expectancy of 77 years and the overall life expectancy across the U.S. of 79 years (76.5 for males and 81.4 for females).

Life expectancy from age 65--an indicator for senior healthcare--is 19.9 years; 18.2 for males, 21.4 for females. This indicator is similar to the state and the U.S.

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Life Expectancy from Birth

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Life Expectancy, Males

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Life Expectancy, Females

Leading Causes of Death

Across San Juan County, there were a total of 1,291 deaths in 2024. Heart Disease was the leading cause of death, with 224 deaths across the county, followed by Cancer (172 deaths) and Unintentional Injury (111 deaths). These are also the three leading causes of death across NM and the U.S.

Compared to New Mexico, rates are higher in San Juan County for Unintentional Injury, Chronic Liver Disease and Suicide, compared to the state.

Premature Death

Premature death is measured by the years of potential life lost (YPLL) before age 75. YPLL is a widely used measure as an indicator of overall community health.

In San Juan County, the actual number of 'Years of Potential Life Lost" Before Age 75 in 2024 was 15,519 years. The average age of death in the county was 67.3 years.

The adjusted rates of premature death (YPLL per 100, 000) are shown below in order to compare the county with the state and U.S. San Juan County's rate of premature death is significantly higher than New Mexico and the U.S. Also for reference, across the U.S. approximately 15-20% of Americans die before age 65. In San Juan County, in 2024, over one third (37%) died before age 65.

Died before age 55

Died before age 65

Died before age 75

Leading Cause of Premature Death: Unintentional Injury

The leading cause of premature death is accidents, or "Unintentional injury." Unintentional injury includes accidential physical injury due to, for example, poisoning and overdose deaths, traffic fatalities, falls and drownings. Other leading contributors to premature death include heart disease and cancer, and intentional (self-harm) injury death.

Deaths due to accidental injuries account for approximately 20% (3082 years) of potential years of life lost among San Juan County residents.

In 2024, in San Juan County, there were 111 deaths due to unintentional injury, giving a rate of 93.3 per 100,000, campared to 73.3 in New Mexico and 53.3 across the U.S.

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YPLL Due to Injury Deaths

County and New Mexico data: New Mexico's Indicator-Based Information System (NM-IBIS):
https://ibis.doh.nm.gov/ 

National YPLL, Injury and Life Expectancy:  
https://www.americashealthrankings.org/

Updated/Checked: Sept-Oct 2026

New Mexico's Indicator-Based Information System (NM-IBIS) is a primary resource for county and state epidemiological health, injury and survey data.

Note all NM-IBIS death/birth data and CDC survey data, such as BRFSS, DO include data for San Juan County residents who reside within the Navajo Nation.

Other data, for example, hospitalization discharge and ER data available at IBIS, however, do NOT include Indian Health Services hospitals/medical facilities, such as Northern Navajo Medical Center, or Veteran's hospitals/medical facilitaties.