Photo: Foreverstocks · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Alamogordo (7.5%) is higher than in 86% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 80% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Alamogordo is better than 11% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (B−). About half work in Alamogordo itself; outside it, Las Cruces draws the most (8%, 62 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Alamogordo at work: what stands out
Most jobs in Alamogordo go to people who live here
Of the 9,536 jobs based in Alamogordo, 54% are held by Alamogordo residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Alamogordo’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Alamogordo is Las Cruces, 62 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (806) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Alamogordo are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across New Mexico. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Mexico worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
37% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Alamogordo workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Alamogordo’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 16% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Alamogordo gets the Jobs & income grade it does
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Alamogordo’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Alamogordo could be anywhere from D to C−.
How many people are in Alamogordo by day
On a workday 5,359 residents head out to work, 5,187 work right here, and 4,349 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.90 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How far it is to work from Alamogordo
About 37% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Commuting from Alamogordo: about 18 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alamogordo workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,736 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across New Mexico: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Inside Alamogordo’s 9,536 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alamogordo, 2013 → 2023: 9,923 → 9,536. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alamogordo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the trip to work from Alamogordo ends
Where Alamogordo clocks in
8% of workers
5% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Getting around Alamogordo: mostly by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 13,740 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.8% of Alamogordo households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Alamogordo’s commuters take a bus or train.
Alamogordo and other U.S. towns of 22,000 to 43,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,071 | South Valley NM | 37,120 | $58K | 18.5% | 4.3% | 7% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,165 | Carlsbad NM | 32,524 | $72K | 13.8% | 5.2% | 57% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,256 | Hobbs NM | 40,863 | $64K | 19.7% | 6.3% | 56% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,344 | Kingsville TX | 24,687 | $58K | 30.8% | 8.6% | 31% | D |
| 1,345 | Dinuba CA | 25,949 | $59K | 26.8% | 10.6% | 19% | D |
| 1,346 | Alamogordo NM | 31,906 | $56K | 16.6% | 7.5% | 49% | D |
| 1,347 | Statesboro GA | 35,366 | $45K | 36.0% | 9.0% | 32% | D |
| 1,348 | Ruston LA | 22,397 | $31K | 39.8% | 3.4% | 42% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,368 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Alamogordo, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
Alamogordo and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alamogordo workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alamogordo | – | D | B− | 18 min | $55,952 |
| Boles Acres | under 1% | D | D− | 25 min | $52,788 |
| La Luz | under 1% | D− | B | 14 min | $46,655 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Alamogordo’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Alamogordo: questions
What is the median household income in Alamogordo?
$55,952 (±$2,993) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alamogordo?
16.6%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alamogordo?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alamogordo work?
49% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Las Cruces (8%, 62 mi), Albuquerque (5%, 158 mi), Holloman AFB (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alamogordo walkable?
Alamogordo is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alamogordo without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alamogordo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alamogordo
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.