Photo: AllenS · Public domainAztec’s household incomes are lower than in 95% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D: better than 14% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #45 of 72 in New Mexico.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns · #10 of 73 in New Mexico.
Working residents average 21 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Aztec; the top destination outside it is Farmington (36%, 12 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.3 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 5.2 in Albuquerque (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Aztec, in brief
Aztec trades workers with the towns around it
Aztec has about as many jobs (2,321) as working residents (2,644), but they are mostly different people: 2,225 residents leave for work each day while 1,902 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Aztec are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Aztec and Farmington trade workers both ways
Farmington is the top workplace for Aztec residents (36%) and also where the most people who work in Aztec come from (24% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
What’s behind Aztec’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Aztec is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #45 of 72 in New Mexico. Unemployment holds Aztec’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($41,977, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Aztec could be anywhere from D to C.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 2,225 residents head out to work, 419 work right here, and 1,902 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 (0.88 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.
36% of working residents work in Farmington
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Aztec clocks in
36% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 2,321 jobs in Aztec are
2,321 jobs are based in Aztec. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Aztec’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Aztec, 2013 → 2023: 2,559 → 2,321. 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.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of New Mexico
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Aztec workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,364 commuters (the 5% 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.
Half of Aztec commutes less than 11 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 15% 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.
Aztec is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Aztec is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #10 of 73 in New Mexico. Both inputs place Aztec near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,493 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 66% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.0% of Aztec households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Aztec’s commuters take a bus or train.
Aztec is 2,959th of 3,307 U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,200 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Aztec, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 545 | White Rock NM | 5,716 | $157K | 2.5% | 0.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 764 | Los Ranchos de Albuquerque NM | 5,790 | $73K | 8.8% | 0.8% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,242 | Eldorado at Santa Fe NM | 5,619 | $107K | 8.4% | 2.1% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,957 | Oxford ME | 4,449 | $59K | 12.5% | 10.6% | 12% | D |
| 2,958 | Warsaw NY | 5,218 | $57K | 20.0% | 5.5% | 30% | D |
| 2,959 | Aztec NM | 6,091 | $42K | 25.9% | 4.5% | 16% | D |
| 2,960 | Nikiski AK | 4,773 | $66K | 15.9% | 6.1% | — | D |
| 2,961 | Holtville CA | 5,591 | $65K | 18.7% | 9.4% | 16% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,307 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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.
10% of Aztec works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Spencerville (5%). Darker towns draw more of Aztec’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Aztec workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aztec | – | D | A− | 21 min | $41,977 |
| Center Point | under 1% | D | D− | 31 min | $51,358 |
| South River | under 1% | C | D | 33 min | $68,668 |
| Spencerville | 5% | C+ | B− | 15 min | $78,899 |
| Bloomfield | 5% | D | A− | 19 min | $48,472 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Aztec: questions
What is the median household income in Aztec?
$41,977 (±$10,487) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Aztec?
25.9%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Aztec?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Aztec work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Farmington (36%, 12 mi), Durango (8%, 31 mi), Spencerville (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Aztec walkable?
Aztec is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Aztec without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Aztec, from the people who make the trip.
More of Aztec
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.