Chope's Town Cafe and Bar · Photo: Treecholla · CC BY-SA 4.0Chaparral’s household incomes are lower than in 92% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D: better than 12% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #47 of 72 in New Mexico.
Walkability D: more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns · #64 of 73 in New Mexico.
Working residents average 30 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). Only 7% work in Chaparral; the top destination outside it is El Paso (37%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Chaparral
Many Chaparral workers cross into Texas
53% of Chaparral workers work outside New Mexico, most of them in Texas, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Chaparral has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Chaparral went from 544 in 2013 to 1,017 in 2023, +87%. The jobs ↓
Many of the people who work in Chaparral live in another state
20% of the jobs in Chaparral are held by people who live in El Paso, TX, one of the top places its workers come from. The commute map ↓
Chaparral and El Paso trade workers both ways
El Paso is the top workplace for Chaparral residents (37%) and also where the most people who work in Chaparral come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Chaparral is a place people come home to
There are 1,017 jobs based in Chaparral, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Chaparral’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chaparral is better than 12% of U.S. towns, #47 of 72 in New Mexico. Job access by car holds Chaparral’s grade up (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (27.4%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chaparral could be anywhere from D to C.
37% of working residents work in El Paso
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Chaparral clocks in
37% of workers
10% of workers
9% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 1,017 jobs in Chaparral are
1,017 jobs are based in Chaparral. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chaparral’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chaparral, 2013 → 2023: 544 → 1,017. 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.
Chaparral quiets down on a workday
On a workday 4,229 residents head out to work, 336 work right here, and 681 people come in from elsewhere.
About 15,000 people are in Chaparral on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.22 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.
About 30 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 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chaparral workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,828 commuters (the 4% 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 Chaparral commutes less than 14 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 22% 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.
Most trips from Chaparral start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chaparral is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns, #64 of 73 in New Mexico. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across New Mexico, on an EPA index of 3.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,148 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). 2.9% of Chaparral households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Chaparral’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Chaparral compares with U.S. towns of 13,000 to 25,000
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Chaparral, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 365 | Los Alamos NM | 13,317 | $141K | 4.1% | 0.8% | 77% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,455 | Sunland Park NM | 18,268 | $63K | 22.4% | 4.6% | 8% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,527 | Los Lunas NM | 20,572 | $62K | 18.2% | 4.9% | 17% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,823 | Fort Mohave AZ | 15,715 | $65K | 11.8% | 9.7% | 13% | D |
| 1,824 | Sandusky OH | 24,001 | $50K | 25.6% | 7.8% | 25% | D |
| 1,825 | Chaparral NM | 18,186 | $46K | 27.4% | 6.3% | 7% | D |
| 1,826 | Ponca City OK | 24,225 | $56K | 17.9% | 6.9% | 39% | D |
| 1,827 | New Kingman-Butler AZ | 13,993 | $41K | 20.8% | 4.1% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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.
37% of Chaparral works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to El Paso (37%). Darker towns draw more of Chaparral’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chaparral workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chaparral | – | D | D | 30 min | $46,017 |
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 Chaparral: questions
What is the median household income in Chaparral?
$46,017 (±$7,570) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chaparral?
27.4%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chaparral?
30 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chaparral work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are El Paso (37%, 14 mi), Las Cruces (10%, 30 mi), Anthony (9%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chaparral walkable?
Chaparral is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chaparral without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chaparral, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chaparral
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.