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.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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 San Juan River is a 383 mile long major tributary of the Colorado River and a primary drainage for the Four Corners.

Demographics

Category: Demographics

Age Distribution

With a median age of 38.1 years, San Juan County's population is slightly younger but than the median ages of populations in New Mexico (39.9 years) and the U.S. (39.2 years).

0

Years, Median Age

Under 18 Years Old
65 Years and Over

Across the age distribution, San Juan County has a higher proportion of those under 18 (24%) compared to NM (20.8%) and the U.S. (21.45).

Similarly, there is a higher proportion of 10-19 year olds in San Juan County (16.3%), compared to 13% across both NM and the U.S.

Race-Ethnicity

The three largest race-ethnicity categories in San Juan County's demographic makeup are: 38.2% Native American, 35.3% Caucasian, and 20.2% Hispanic, followed by 4.2% two or more races, 1.0% Asian American, 0.7% Black or African American, 0.3% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and 0.1% some other race. *Hispanic includes respondents of any race. All race categories are non-Hispanic.

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year estimates (2024)

Updated/Checked: Sept-Oct 2026

Important Note: 1-year and 5-year estimates are different.

San Juan County's population size is sufficiently large for stable, 1-year estimates, and therefore are used to capture the most recently available population estimates. Other indicators in this website, e.g., for block group and school district estimates of population and poverty, use 5-year estimates.

See "Section 3: Understanding and Using ACS Single-Year and Multiyear Estimates" on publication page 13 (file page 19) of the 2018 ACS General Handbook for a more thorough clarification. https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2018/acs/acs_general_handbook_2018.pdf