AtokaNM
A town of 1,347.
Is Atoka a good place to live?
Atoka’s best subject grade is an A+ for cost of living; its weakest is a D− for walkability. On the outdoors, just 3 of New Mexico’s 161 towns do worse. Atoka has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
1,347 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Atoka grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Mexico), ordered by how far Atoka is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Atoka: who provides what
Atoka is unincorporated, so Eddy County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 27, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Atoka.
High risk in Atoka, with inland flooding at the top
Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 79% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Atoka stands out in New Mexico and nationally, with a typical July afternoon hotter than most
Expect chilly winters and hot summers in Atoka, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 96°, January nights drop to 27° and about 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Compared with most of New Mexico and the rest of the country, fewer of Atoka’s residents live below the poverty line
Atoka’s average commute is 19 minutes, against 23 minutes in New Mexico’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. The income of the median household locally is $84,000. Employers in Atoka added 98 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 495. Just 3% of the town’s working residents have a job in town.
| Atoka | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 3.3% | 21% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3% | 14% | 8% |
| Median household income | $84,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
On CDC estimates, Atoka is less healthy than 52% of U.S. towns
For adults in Atoka, the share who report frequent physical distress is 15%. Two figures for adults locally: 39% sleep under 7 hours, 40% have obesity.
| Atoka | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 67% | 69% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 34% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 35% | 35% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 16% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Atoka | NM |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.9% | 14.2% |
| Fewer adults without reliable transportation | 9.2% | 11% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Atoka
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Atoka; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Atoka residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Mexico.
About Atoka
Census-designated place in New Mexico, United States
Atoka is a census-designated place in Eddy County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, Atoka had a population of 1,153. U.S. Route 285 passes through the community. The name was derived from a Native American word, probably Choctaw, whose meaning is unknown. It is within the Artesia Public Schools school district. Artesia High School is the school district's sole comprehensive high school.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 6.8 sq mi
- Elevation
- 3,376 ft
Questions about Atoka
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Atoka, NM expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.