La Union, New Mexico
15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1917 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the South Doña Ana census division. It lies in ZIP code area 88021. The Survey maps it on the La Union quadrangle. 997 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,799 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresLa Union fell from 1,106 to 997 between 2010 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,106 | |
| 2020 | 997 | -109 (-10%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 15 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.
- 1917 USGS Canutillo quadrangle1:62500
- 1919 USGS Canutillo quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS El Paso quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS La Union quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS El Paso quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1964 USGS El Paso quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS El Paso quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS El Paso quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1995 USGS La Union quadrangle1:24000
- 1996 USGS La Union quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
16 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of La Union between 1992 and 2020, burning about 31 acres in total. None started naturally. None was 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 | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 July 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | CCT |
| 4 June 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.1 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | GARDNER |
| 28 June 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | COACH FIRE |
| 26 June 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.6 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | LA JUNTA |
| 17 June 2019 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Las Cruces Field Office | VINTON |
| 3 May 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | RAILROAD FIRE |
| 7 April 2014 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 6.1 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | DONIPHAN |
| 6 April 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | MORRILL |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
8 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names La Union in 8 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 7 flash flood, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2021 | Flash Flood | La Union | $750,000 | Water topped an earthen dam and resulted in flooding across much of La Union. Several cars were washed off the road and some houses were inaccessible for awile. Several inches of standing water also resulted across the area due to the heavy rain. This was all the result of almost 2 inches of rain in about an hour. |
| August 2021 | Flash Flood | La Union | $250,000 | Widespread flooding was reported across La Union due to over 7 inches of rain over the previous 3 days from just north of Domenici Highway through La Union. The Dona Ana County Emergency Manager ordered evacuations of La Union due to the flooding and possible dam breach of an earthen dam to the west of town. |
| August 2021 | Flash Flood | La Union | $250,000 | Another round of heavy rain hit La Union down to Santa Teresa a day after flooding had already occurred in the area. Over a foot and a half of water was reported on Alvarez Road in La Union while down in Santa Teresa, Hansen Circle was impassable due to overflowing water from a retention pond. |
| August 2025 | Flash Flood | La Union | - | Water flowed across Visnaga Street due to heavy rainfall. |
| July 2025 | Flash Flood | La Union | - | The Dona Ana Emergency Manager reported fast flowing water at Mercantil and Sentenario Streets as well as just south of this point at Conejo Street. |
| September 2021 | Flash Flood | La Union | - | Fire official reported some sink holes and a couple of cars swept away in La Union. Radar estimated about 1 inch of rain in less than an hour. |
| August 2016 | Flash Flood | La Union | - | Flash flooding reported along Alvarez Road with mud and debris across road. |
| July 2008 | Hail | La Union | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Union Vieja | 0.8 miles | 15 | |
| El Ojito | 3.9 miles | 15 | |
| Anthony | 4.7 miles | 15 | |
| Vevay | 5.7 miles | 12 | |
| Hacienda Acres | 5.7 miles | 15 | |
| Strauss | 6.3 miles | 14 | |
| Chamberino | 6.3 miles | 15 | |
| Orange | 6.3 miles | 14 |
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 La Union | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5965410 | 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 920626. 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.
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.









