Lea County comprises the Hobbs, NM micropolitan statistical area.

[3] Lea County is located in the southeast corner of New Mexico and borders Texas to the south and east.

The Permian Basin, 250 mi (400 km) wide and 350 mi (560 km) long, underlies Lea County and adjacent Eddy County, as well as a large portion of West Texas.

It produces 500,000 barrels of crude a day, and this number was expected to double in 2019.

The shale in this basin lies 3,000–15,000 ft (910–4,570 m) below the surface, below a salt bed and a groundwater aquifer.

[4] As of the 2000 census,[10] 55,511 people, 19,699 households, and 14,715 families were living in the county.

About 22.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

It has repeatedly claimed the status of the most Republican county in New Mexico in Presidential elections.

However, Lea County was a Democratic stronghold prior to 1968, voting Republican only once in Herbert Hoover's 1928 landslide.