Belen Hotel · Photo: AzaniahT · CC BY-SA 3.0Belen’s household incomes are lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D: better than 6% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #60 of 72 in New Mexico.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns · #13 of 73 in New Mexico.
Working residents average 26 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Belen; the top destination outside it is Albuquerque (38%, 25 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.0 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
What stands out about work in Belen
Belen trades workers with the towns around it
Belen has about as many jobs (3,003) as working residents (2,542), but they are mostly different people: 2,125 residents leave for work each day while 2,586 people come in. Only 14% of the jobs in Belen are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
38% of Belen works in Albuquerque
976 working residents, 38%, have their main job in Albuquerque, 25 miles away. That’s twice as many as work in Belen itself. 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 Belen’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Belen is better than 6% of U.S. towns, #60 of 72 in New Mexico. Job access by car holds Belen’s grade up (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (31.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Belen could be anywhere from D− to C.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 2,125 residents head out to work, 417 work right here, and 2,586 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 (1.18 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.
38% of working residents work in Albuquerque
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Belen clocks in
38% of workers
12% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
3,003 jobs are based in Belen. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Belen’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Belen, 2013 → 2023: 2,754 → 3,003. 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 26 minutes each way, longer 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 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Belen workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,540 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.
Half of Belen commutes less than 30 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Belen 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, Belen is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #13 of 73 in New Mexico. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.8% of 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 2,735 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 58% 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 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 59% 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). 7.1% of Belen households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Belen’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Belen compares with U.S. towns of 5,300 to 10,200
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Belen, 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 579 | White Rock NM | 5,716 | $157K | 2.5% | 0.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 790 | Los Ranchos de Albuquerque NM | 5,790 | $73K | 8.8% | 0.8% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,230 | Eldorado at Santa Fe NM | 5,619 | $107K | 8.4% | 2.1% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,961 | Woodlake CA | 8,073 | $46K | 25.3% | 11.0% | 13% | D |
| 2,962 | Kosciusko MS | 6,722 | $40K | 25.7% | 5.5% | 32% | D |
| 2,963 | Belen NM | 7,589 | $43K | 31.2% | 8.0% | 16% | D |
| 2,964 | Massena NY | 9,898 | $51K | 24.3% | 6.5% | 31% | D |
| 2,965 | Hamlet NC | 5,870 | $42K | 21.6% | 8.7% | 9% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,071 | 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.
Belen and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Los Chaves (2%). Darker towns draw more of Belen’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Belen workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belen | – | D | A− | 26 min | $42,627 |
| Sausal | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Los Chaves | 2% | B− | D | 27 min | $79,662 |
| Jarales | under 2% | C− | D | 25 min | $55,676 |
| Pueblitos | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Sausal and Pueblitos: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. 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 Belen: questions
What is the median household income in Belen?
$42,627 (±$8,241) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Belen?
31.2%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Belen?
26 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 Belen work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albuquerque (38%, 25 mi), Los Lunas (12%, 3 mi), Santa Fe (3%, 78 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Belen walkable?
Belen is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Belen without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Belen, from the people who make the trip.
More of Belen
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.