About half of El Cerro’s working residents commute to Albuquerque
Jobs and income earn El Cerro B+; getting around on foot earns it C. Measured by household income, El Cerro is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns. 4% of workers work from home, against 12% across New Mexico.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in El Cerro, in brief
Fewer jobs are based in El Cerro than ten years ago
Jobs counted in El Cerro fell from 474 in 2013 to 175 in 2023, −63%. 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 ↓
Nearly half of El Cerro works in Albuquerque
565 working residents, 48%, have their main job in Albuquerque, 23 miles away. That’s 24 times as many as work in El Cerro itself. The commute map ↓
El Cerro is a place people come home to
There are 175 jobs based in El Cerro, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday El Cerro has about 1,900 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few El Cerro workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 12% across New Mexico. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Why El Cerro gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, El Cerro is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #8 of 72 in New Mexico. Household income holds El Cerro’s grade up ($106,136, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 41% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, El Cerro could be anywhere from C− to A.
El Cerro makes things: 41% of its jobs are in goods
175 jobs are based in El Cerro.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in El Cerro, 2013 → 2023: 474 → 175. 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 El Cerro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ El Cerro’s residents
Where El Cerro clocks in
48% of workers
13% of workers
5% 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.
Who commutes out of El Cerro, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,151 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 151 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in El Cerro on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.15 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 28 minutes each way for El Cerro’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of El Cerro workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,124 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from El Cerro
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.
Most trips from El Cerro start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, El Cerro is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns, #58 of 73 in New Mexico. Both inputs place El Cerro near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,176 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 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 54% 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). 2.5% of El Cerro households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of El Cerro’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,463rd of 4,882: where El Cerro ranks among U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 419 | Sandia Heights NM | 3,160 | $144K | 4.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 800 | Picacho Hills NM | 2,002 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,421 | Las Campanas NM | 2,119 | $205K | 8.9% | 2.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,461 | Congress Township OH | 3,006 | $85K | 10.8% | 0.0% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,462 | Newbold WI | 2,869 | $76K | 5.0% | 0.2% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,463 | El Cerro NM | 2,923 | $106K | 5.9% | 4.5% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,464 | Denver NC | 2,497 | $66K | 6.0% | 2.6% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,465 | West Grove PA | 2,835 | $93K | 14.1% | 2.4% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 El Cerro, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
The towns next door employ 13% of El Cerro
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | El Cerro workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Cerro | – | B+ | C | 28 min | $106,136 |
| Los Lunas | 13% | C | B+ | 26 min | $62,330 |
| Valencia | under 2% | C− | C | 30 min | $55,170 |
| El Cerro Mission | under 2% | D− | D− | 46 min | $49,470 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Los Lunas. Darker towns draw more of El Cerro’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 El Cerro: questions
What is the median household income in El Cerro?
$106,136 (±$53,014) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in El Cerro?
5.9%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from El Cerro?
28 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 El Cerro work?
2% work in town.
Is El Cerro walkable?
El Cerro is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around El Cerro without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from El Cerro, from the people who make the trip.
More of El Cerro
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.