Welcome to Ruidoso ...

The village of Ruidoso is located in southeast New Mexico.

Ruidoso is located in Lincoln County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Ruidoso, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1882.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Ruidoso has a population of 7,951 people<2> (see below for details).

The community of Ruidoso is 6,800 feet [2,073 m] above sea level.<3> In other words, the altitude of Ruidoso is about 1¼ mile [or ~2 km] above sea level.

Time Zone: Ruidoso lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time

The area code for Ruidoso: (575)

The ZIP code for Ruidoso: 88345<4>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Ruidoso had an population of 7,951 people. This is a decrease of 0.97% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 3.29% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Ruidoso had a population of 8,029 people (or 39.17% of the total population of Lincoln County). This makes Ruidoso the county's most populous community.

The population of Ruidoso represents 0.39% of the total population of New Mexico (which has 2,059,179 people), making it the state's 26th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 8,029 people, the population of Ruidoso increased 4.3% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 7,698 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Ruidoso.

Communities near Ruidoso ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Ruidoso.

• Capitan
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Capitan have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capitan
  • Capitan is located in Lincoln County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,457 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Capitan <6>
• Ruidoso Downs
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruidoso Downs have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruidoso Downs
  • Ruidoso Downs is located in Lincoln County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,631 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruidoso Downs <6>
• Bonito
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonito
  • Bonito is located in Lincoln County
• Carrizo
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carrizo
  • Carrizo is located in Otero County
• Fort Stanton ‑ Historic
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Stanton
  • Fort Stanton is located in Lincoln County
• Glencoe
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glencoe
  • Glencoe is located in Lincoln County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glencoe <6>
• Nogal
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nogal
  • Nogal is located in Lincoln County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nogal <6>
• Mescalero
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mescalero
  • Mescalero is located in Otero County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mescalero <6>
• Bent
  (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bent
  • Bent is located in Otero County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bent <6>
• Lincoln
  (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln
  • Lincoln is located in Lincoln County

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Ruidoso. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Ruidoso.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Ruidoso. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ruidoso.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Ruidoso. See our Newspapers Page for Ruidoso.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Ruidoso ...

Looking for more information about Ruidoso? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Ruidoso, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Ruidoso.

Adding Ruidoso to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Ruidoso in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Ruidoso was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Ruidoso post office opened in 1882.

We also found Ruidoso in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Ruidoso.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ruidoso. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of New Mexico: www.newmexico.gov/