Photo: AllenS · Public domainRio Rancho’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Rio Rancho Public Library serves Rio Rancho’s 104,046 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 526K books, movies and e-books and logged 154K visits.
What stands out about Rio Rancho’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Rio Rancho’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rio Rancho is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #36 of 46 in New Mexico. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #302. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($67K–$112K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
218 community nonprofits are registered in Rio Rancho
2.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (80 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of Rio Rancho’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.2% in the typical New Mexico town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Rio Rancho’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Rio Rancho Public Library serves 104,046 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 74 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
526K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 156K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
184,592 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Rio Rancho last year.
3 places to borrow in Rio Rancho
Loma Colorado Main Library, 755 Loma Colorado Blvd, NE, Rio Rancho.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rio Rancho? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Rio Rancho
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rio Rancho cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 39,156 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Rio Rancho ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corrales | Corrales Community Library fine-free | 5.3 | 42 | A− |
| Rio Rancho | Loma Colorado Main Library fine-free | 5.1 | 55 | D |
| Bernalillo | Town of Bernalillo Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 41 | D |
| Albuquerque | Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Main Library fine-free | — | 46 | C+ |
| Rio Rancho Estates | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Rio Rancho
Does Rio Rancho have a public library?
Yes. Rio Rancho Public Library, 755 Loma Colorado Blvd, NE, serves Rio Rancho’s 104,046 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rio Rancho Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Rio Rancho’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 5.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Rio Rancho’s civic life grade?
D Rio Rancho is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #36 of 46 in New Mexico. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Rio Rancho.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.