Kirtland, New Mexico
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the Farmington census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87417. It stands on Coolidge Arroyo. The Survey maps it on the Kirtland quadrangle. 585 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,187 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresKirtland fell from 6,190 to 585 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 6,190 | |
| 2010 | 7,875 | +1,685 (+27%) |
| 2020 | 585 | -7,290 (-93%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 20 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1889 USGS Chaco quadrangle1:250000
- 1892 USGS Chaco quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1927 USGS Sulphur Spring quadrangle1:96000
- 1928 USGS Kirtland quadrangle1:125000
- 1932 USGS Kirtland quadrangle1:125000
- 1954 USGS Shiprock quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1958 USGS Shiprock quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Shiprock quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Kirtland quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1980 USGS Farmington quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
117 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 117 fires within 5 miles of Kirtland between 2000 and 2020, burning about 861 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 13 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 87 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 13 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | NENAHNEZAD 3 |
| 2 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | NENAHNEZAD 9 |
| 3 August 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.4 acres | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | NENAHNEZAD 6 |
| 10 August 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | NE MORGAN LAKE |
| 8 July 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | UPPER FRUITLAND 8 |
| 8 July 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | N36 2ND LANE |
| 6 July 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | UPPER FRUITLAND 2 |
| 5 July 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1.0 acres | Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management | OJO AMARILLO |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
7 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Kirtland: 5 unknowns, 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caudell Mine | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Harper Hill Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Materials Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Pit No 72-10-N | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Richey Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
4 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Kirtland in 4 storm reports between 2000 and 2025: 2 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2025 | Flash Flood | Kirtland | $10,000 | Heavy rain from thunderstorms resulted in 1 foot of standing water around homes along U.S. 64 in Kirtland. Another home had water entering the garage. Up to 3 inches of water was observed running across U.S. 64 near the Coolidge Arroyo along with a large area of flood waters backs up from a nearby drainage along U.S. 64 just west of County Road 6500. |
| June 2025 | Flash Flood | Kirtland | - | Numerous reports of water, debris, rocks, and mud over roadways, prompting closures. Several portions of NM 170, La Plata Highway, and N 36, Upper Fruitland Highway, were impacted. |
| October 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Kirtland | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Hail | Kirtland | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fruitland | 1.9 miles | 21 | |
| Upper Fruitland | 2.7 miles | 20 | |
| Ojo Amarillo | 2.9 miles | 20 | |
| Nenahnezad | 3.1 miles | 21 | |
| Waterflow | 6.7 miles | 18 | |
| Farmington | 7.5 miles | 18 | |
| Totah Vista | 8.6 miles | 18 | |
| Cottonwood | 9.8 miles | 18 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Kirtland | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q947461 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 902282. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.









