Santa Fe County ranks seventh among all counties in the country for the number of same-sex couples living together, on a per capita basis, according to a research group at the University of California at Los Angeles.
The Williams Institute, a think tank attached to the UCLA law school, which focuses on law and public policy research related to sexual orientation, also says New Mexico has the sixth-most gay couples per 1,000 households among the states, based on 2010 U.S. Census figures.
In the Santa Fe area, Eldorado has a particularly high concentration of gay households, according to the Williams Institute and census figures.
The institute says there are about 902,000 gay couples in the country. Sixty percent are same-sex female couples and 22 percent of gay couples are raising children, according to the Williams report.
The Williams Institute determined its numbers using the official federal government counts but with statistical adjustments taking into account that some man-woman married couples “miscode” the gender of their spouses on census forms and that some same-sex couples don’t show up in the census count “due to concerns about confidentiality” or for other reasons.
For instance, for Santa Fe County, the official U.S. Census numbers show 1,070 same-sex couples — 452 male and 618 female — out of a total of 61,963 households. The Williams Institute’s adjusted number for gay couples in the county is slightly higher: 1,142.
That means, according to the institute, there are 18.44 same-sex couples per 1,000 households in the county.
The only counties or similar government jurisdictions with higher concentrations of gay couples are San Francisco County in California; Hampshire County, in western Massachusetts; Monroe County, in Florida; Multnomah County, which includes Portland, in Oregon; Manhattan, in New York City; and Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Census report on Santa Fe County shows that 147 of the gay couples, about two-thirds of them lesbian, have children under age 18.
For the city of Santa Fe, the census figures show 533 gay households, split between 239 male couples and 294 female couples, out of a total of 31,895 households. Sixty-five of the gay couples have children.
The Williams Institute’s adjusted number for gay couples within the city limits is 576, or 18.07 same-sex couples per 1,000 households.
That’s not high enough to get the City Different a high ranking among small cities in the Williams Institute study — No. 1 in that category was Princetown, Mass., with 163 gay couples per 1,000 households.
But putting Santa Fe up against big cities, it would comes in between eighth-ranked Washington, D.C., and ninth-ranked Boston.
Albuquerque is 22nd, with 12.38 same-sex couples per 1,000 households, the institute says.
Eldorado’s concentration of gay couples is high enough to stand out among small communities.
The official census count shows 128 gay couples in the Santa Fe suburb among a total 2,887 households. The Williams Institute adjusted the same-sex couple total up just a bit, to 130. Eldorado’s figure of 44.89 same-sex couples per 1,000 households ranks 17th among communities with populations below 100,000, the institute said.
Overall, New Mexico has 7,784 same-sex couples, according to the Williams Institute’s adjusted numbers, for a figure of 9.84 gay couples per 1,000 households. Only the District of Columbia, Vermont, Massachusetts, California and Oregon have higher per capita numbers.
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Same-sex couples per 1,000 households
- 1. San Francisco County, Calif. 33.41
- 2. Hampshire County, Mass. 22.93
- 3. Monroe County, Fla. 21.75
- 4. Multnomah County, Ore. 19.36
- 5. Manhattan, New York City 19.32
- 6. Washington, D.C. 19.29
- 7. Santa Fe County, N.M. 18.44
- 8. DeKalb County, Ga. 18.42
- 9. Sussex County, Del. 18.28
- 10. Franklin County, Mass. 17.33
Source: The Williams Institute, UCLA
-- Email the reporter at moswald@abqjournal.com. Call the reporter at 505-992-6269
