Foster Hotel · Photo: MRobison · CC BY-SA 3.0Chama has 3.3 jobs for every working resident: 440 people commute in to work
Working residents average 8 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Chama; the top destination outside it is Albuquerque (9%, 123 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Chama fills up on a workday
On a workday 117 residents head out to work, 23 work right here, and 440 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Chama on a workday afternoon, 35% more than live here.
3.3 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.
Where Chama’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Chama clocks in
9% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 463 jobs in Chama are
463 jobs are based in Chama. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chama’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chama, 2013 → 2023: 235 → 463. 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 8 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 2.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chama workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 321 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.
Half of Chama commutes less than 50 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 51% 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.
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 Chama: questions
What is the median household income in Chama?
$30,694 (±$21,532) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chama?
20.7%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chama?
8 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 Chama work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albuquerque (9%, 123 mi), Los Alamos (7%, 71 mi), Dulce (7%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Chama without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chama, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chama
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.