New Mexico oil patch county paces population growth

Lea County, in the heart of southeastern New Mexico's bustling oil patch, was the fastest-growing county in the state last year, while two-third of the counties lost population, according to the Census Bureau. With New Mexico's economy still weak, the statewide population increased by a meager 0.3 percent from 2011 to 2012. All of the growth came from births, because more people left New Mexico than moved into the state, according to the federal agency's latest population estimates. "I am very disturbed about this," said Jack Baker, the state demographer and senior researcher in geospatial and population studies at the University of New Mexico. "What worries me most is that now we're looking very negative on migration. That's the first time we've seen that in 20 years." The Census Bureau estimated a net loss of about 5,200 people from migration into and out of the state from July 2011 to July 2012. The loss was somewhat smaller — about 1,100 people — when viewed from April 2010 to mid-2012. Births and deaths are other components of population change. "More people are leaving than are coming. That's a problem. They're probably exploring their economic opportunities elsewhere. That's probably the driver of that but that's not good for us," Baker said in a telephone interview this week. Lea County's population grew by 1.8 percent last year, and Baker attributed much of that to the booming oil field economy. There's also a uranium enrichment plant in the county near the small community of Eunice. The county ranked fourth in the state in population growth in the past decade...more