Household incomes in Bayard trail those of 98% of U.S. towns
For 3% of workers, the job is at home, next to 12% for New Mexico as a whole. 34.6% of residents are in poverty; New Mexico has 17.8%. The two grades for Bayard are D− for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Bayard: the gist
Bayard and Silver City trade workers both ways
Silver City is the top workplace for Bayard residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Bayard come from (23% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Bayard than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Bayard fell from 787 in 2013 to 424 in 2023, −46%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 ↓
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; with 571 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Bayard’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Bayard is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Bayard’s grade.
Unemployment (12.8%) is left out: Bayard’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Bayard stays D−.
27% of working residents work in Silver City
Where Bayard clocks in
27% of workers
9% of workers
6% 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.
The 424 jobs based in Bayard
424 jobs are based in Bayard.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bayard, 2013 → 2023: 787 → 424. 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 Bayard’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Bayard
About 35% 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.
A workday in Bayard: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 507 residents head out to work, 64 work right here, and 360 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.
0.74 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The daily trip from Bayard: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bayard workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 542 commuters (the 3% 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.
Most trips from Bayard start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bayard is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.4% across New Mexico.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 561 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). 3.6% of Bayard households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bayard’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bayard and other U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 746 | Picacho Hills NM | 2,002 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 947 | Tres Arroyos NM | 1,926 | $88K | 2.2% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,113 | Little Walnut Village NM | 1,445 | $125K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,764 | Colquitt GA | 1,937 | $26K | 46.0% | 3.6% | 27% | D− |
| 5,765 | Eureka MT | 1,562 | $39K | 31.3% | 4.2% | 26% | D− |
| 5,766 | Bayard NM | 2,048 | $34K | 34.6% | 12.8% | 11% | D− |
| 5,767 | Richwood WV | 1,598 | $31K | 25.9% | 13.5% | 9% | D− |
| 5,768 | Garberville CA | 1,415 | $40K | 42.6% | 2.1% | 22% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,793 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Bayard, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
The towns around Bayard
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bayard workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayard | – | D− | D | 17 min | $34,477 |
| North Hurley | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. North Hurley: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bayard’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 Bayard: questions
What is the median household income in Bayard?
$34,477 (±$9,859) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bayard?
34.6%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bayard?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bayard work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Silver City (27%, 8 mi), Las Cruces (9%, 84 mi), Albuquerque (6%, 183 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bayard walkable?
Bayard is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bayard without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bayard, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bayard
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.