The Las Cruces NM MSA (Dona Ana County) is a growing and vibrant community. Over the past six years, it has consistently ranked in the top small metro areas for business and careers by Forbes and the Milken Institute, as well as a top area for retirement by CNN-Money and AARP. Being the home of the state’s second largest university, it offers many of the amenities found in larger metropolitan areas with fewer of the “big city” headaches.

Dona Ana County covers over 3,800 square miles of high desert, bisected by the Rio Grande River. Elevations range from 3,730 feet in the fertile valley to over 9,000 feet at the highest summit of the Organ Mountains. The climate is temperate year-round with average low temperatures of 28 degrees (F) in January to average high temperatures of 94.8 degree (F) in July. Annually, there are an average of over 330 sunny days and less than 10 inches of precipitation.

The county’s population is relatively young, with a median age of 30.2 (Census 2000). Less than 30% of the population is under 18 and less than 12% is over 65. Approximately 40% of the population is between the ages of 18 and 45. According to Census Bureau estimates, between 2000 and 2007 the county’s population grew by 13.8% to 198,781.

The community’s health services are provided by two community hospitals with 454 beds; a new rehabilitation hospital, an acute care hospital under construction; and two RTC/Psychiatric hospitals. Numerous clinics and other health care facilities are distributed throughout the valley.

Public safety services are provided by both Dona Ana County and the City of Las Cruces. The city currently has 123 firefighters and 7 fire stations. Dona County has 15 full-time firefighters and 350 volunteer firefighters in 16 volunteer districts. Police protection is provided by the city’s 164 officers and the county sheriff’s 143 officers. The New Mexico State Police also maintains a barracks in Las Cruces. The crime rate is relatively low with 465.1 violent crimes per 100,000 (2006).

The area’s cost of living is competitive with most other growing communities. The “ 2007 Annual Average” ACCRA Composite Index was 101.8 and the housing index was 104.8. As of the end of the first quarter of 2008, the median sale price of existing and new homes was $179,000 and $207,500 respectively.

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Las Cruces
New Mexico's second-largest city was founded in 1849, subsisting in the early years on agriculture and trade along the Rio Grande corridor. However, what began as a quiet farming community has grown into one of America's "Best Performing Small Cities" as ranked by Forbes.com and the Milken Institute in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006. With an economy driven by aerospace research and development at nearby White Sands Missile Range, Las Cruces has developed an ever-increasing base of private employers and light manufacturing facilities. Previously ranked among the top ten metros in growth nationwide, Las Cruces has more than doubled in size since 1970, with an estimated population of 89,722 residents in 2007.

Las Cruces has all the features expected of a growing, thriving community, including a nationally recognized university, national retail outlets and restaurants, and numerous cultural opportunities. With a strong multi-cultural background, Las Cruces offers many exciting events rich in the traditions of Mexican-American heritage. In addition, Las Cruces features many outdoor recreational activities due to its year-round temperate climate. These are some to the factors that ranked Las Cruces as one the "Best Places to Retire" by CNN-Money and AARP in 2002, 2005 and 2006.

Mesilla
Prior to the first permanent settlers making Mesilla their home with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the area was merely a stop-over campsite used by early Spanish explorers traveling the El Camino Real from Mexico City to Santa Fe. Today, many of its 2,200 residents are descendents of those early settlers.

Today, Mesilla maintains that “old town” charm, with many of the original buildings still standing and being used by the many shops, galleries, and restaurants surrounding the town square. With the increasing number of art galleries in Mesilla, it is gaining the reputation of the “Santa Fe of the South.”

Santa Teresa
With a population of 2,607 in 2000, the young community of Santa Teresa is adjacent to New Mexico's newest border crossing with Mexico. Year-round sunshine enhances a suburban lifestyle that is located just minutes away from the urban amenities of Las Cruces and El Paso, Texas. There are countless recreational activities for residents to engage in, from two 18-hole Lee Trevino-designed golf courses at the Santa Teresa Country Club to tennis and swimming.

As the two industrial parks west of Santa Teresa continue to expand to serve the growing maquila industry in nearby Juarez, Santa Teresa is poised for explosive growth and opportunity. Master-planned housing developments are projected to increase the population to upwards of 100,000 in the next twenty years.

Sunland Park
What began as a west-side bedroom community for El Paso is now a rapidly growing city of close to14,000 tucked into the Rio Grande corridor's southern-most point in New Mexico. Located between Santa Teresa and El Paso, Texas, Sunland Park offers residents a pleasant living experience outside the confines of an urban setting.

Along with a full range of recreational and cultural activities, Sunland Park also is famous for world-class horse racing at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino.

Anthony
An historic community of approximately 15,000 including the numerous small neighborhoods that surround it, Anthony straddles the state line between New Mexico and Texas. Anthony has a long history in the agricultural industry. Located on I-10 and within 15 miles of Santa Teresa, Anthony gives residents close proximity to Las Cruces, El Paso and Mexico.

The Anthony Country Club and the Dos Lagos Golf Course provide challenges to both the serious and novice golfer. Anthony Water & Sanitation District services most of the area and is one of the region's best public utilities.

Hatch
Hatch is located just west of the banks of the Rio Grande River 37 miles north of Las Cruces via I-25. The northernmost incorporated community in Dona Ana County, the Village of Hatch is home to some 1,650 residents, many of whom work in the fertile fields of the surrounding Hatch Valley. The area produces the world-famous Hatch chile and is home to the annual Hatch Chile Festival, which draws thousands to the village. With the building of Spaceport America northeast of Hatch and a new community college branch campus, Hatch is poised to take advantage of the new technologies coming to Southern New Mexico.