Black Rock’s household incomes are lower than in 92% of U.S. towns
About one in three stay in Black Rock for work; outside it, Gallup is the main destination (21%, 30 miles). Poverty touches 38.9% of residents, against 17.8% across New Mexico. Black Rock grades D− for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Black Rock: the figures worth knowing
Black Rock’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Black Rock is Gallup, 30 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (68) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Black Rock is where the jobs are
Black Rock has 516 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Black Rock’s working residents have a job less than 3 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 26 minutes, longer than the New Mexico average of 24. Time on the road ↓
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 326 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Black Rock
On income, poverty and job access, Black Rock is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Black Rock’s grade.
Unemployment (1.7%) is left out: Black Rock’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Black Rock could be anywhere from D− to D.
The commute from Black Rock, by distance
About 25% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Black Rock
On a workday 223 residents head out to work, 103 work right here, and 413 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Black Rock on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
How long Black Rock spends getting to work: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Black Rock workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 351 commuters (the 14% 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.
Who travels to work in Black Rock, and from where
Where Black Rock clocks in
21% of workers
19% of workers
7% 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 kinds of work in Black Rock
516 jobs are based in Black Rock.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Black Rock, 2013 → 2023: 429 → 516. 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 Black Rock’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute in Black Rock is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Black Rock is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across New Mexico, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 406 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 18.7% of Black Rock households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Black Rock’s commuters take a bus or train.
Black Rock and other U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 483 | Santa Ana Pueblo NM | 1,026 | $86K | 5.5% | 2.9% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 524 | Little Walnut Village NM | 1,445 | $125K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 751 | Sandia Knolls NM | 1,445 | $92K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,716 | Eden Roc HI | 1,166 | $25K | 23.1% | 19.2% | 1% | D− |
| 3,717 | Fort Belknap Agency MT | 1,227 | $46K | 29.4% | 38.8% | 3% | D− |
| 3,718 | Black Rock NM | 1,125 | $46K | 38.9% | 1.7% | 32% | D− |
| 3,719 | Taos Pueblo NM | 1,129 | $39K | 49.1% | 21.7% | 3% | D− |
| 3,720 | Frisco City AL | 1,089 | $36K | 26.8% | 21.4% | 2% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Black Rock, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
Work next door: 19% of Black Rock’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Black Rock workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Rock | – | D− | B | 26 min | $46,000 |
| Zuni Pueblo | 19% | D− | C | 26 min | $45,724 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Zuni Pueblo. Darker towns draw more of Black Rock’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 Black Rock: questions
What is the median household income in Black Rock?
$46,000 (±$22,980) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Black Rock?
38.9%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Black Rock?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Black Rock work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gallup (21%, 30 mi), Zuni Pueblo (19%, 3 mi), Albuquerque (7%, 122 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Black Rock walkable?
Black Rock is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Black Rock without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Black Rock, from the people who make the trip.
More of Black Rock
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.