El DuendeNM
A town of 454.
Is El Duende a good place to live?
0.4% of residents live below the poverty line in El Duende, below both New Mexico’s towns (21%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Of the 74 New Mexico towns we compare, none has a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than El Duende. El Duende has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
454 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to El Duende: who provides what
El Duende is unincorporated, so Rio Arriba County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 27, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in El Duende.
In El Duende, the FEMA risk score runs higher than in the typical New Mexico or U.S. town
Expected losses in El Duende break down as 83% from inland flooding and 9% from wildfires.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most of El Duende’s workers commute out: the town has 0.1 jobs for each of them
Half the trips to work are shorter than 17 miles. El Duende: 0.9% of working residents work locally, below both the New Mexico town median (14%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). The top destinations are Los Alamos (19%), Española (14%) and Albuquerque (12%).
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The climate in El Duende brings four seasons and hot summers
A winter brings about 11 inches of snow, with January nights at 18° and July afternoons at 89°.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
El Duende stands out in New Mexico and nationally: a smaller share of its adults have been diagnosed with depression
In El Duende, 14% of adults report frequent mental distress, and 69% had a checkup this year. Among adults 18 to 64 locally, 20% have no health insurance.
| El Duende | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 8.1% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 23% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 69% | 79% |
| What stands out | El Duende | NM |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.2% | 14.2% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 4.9% | 6.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
El Duende has set aside 6.6% of its land for conservation
1.6 miles of trail. The trail network density in El Duende is 1.1 miles per square mile.
| El Duende | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.1 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.6% | 3.9% | 4.3% |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median home in El Duende sells for about $630K
For households in El Duende, the share who live in a home they own is 100%.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Bandelier National Monument and 25 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around El Duende. Close and well known come first.
14 mi National MonumentBandelier National Monument248K visitors a year
17 mi National PreserveValles Caldera National Preserve85K visitors a year
28 mi MuseumGeorgia O'Keeffe Museum
17 mi National Historical ParkManhattan Project National Historical Park56K visitors a year
40 mi National Historical ParkPecos National Historical Park37K visitors a year
28 mi Park & preserveSanta Fe PlazaPhoto credits
Bandelier National Monument: Andrew Dunn (talk · contribs), CC BY-SA 2.0 · Valles Caldera National Preserve: Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, Public domain · Georgia O'Keeffe Museum: John Phelan, CC BY 3.0 · Manhattan Project National Historical Park: Unknown, Public domain · Pecos National Historical Park: Mosamiazaz at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Santa Fe Plaza: See above, CC BY 2.0
Everything we know about El Duende
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of El Duende
About 0 of every 100 El Duende residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Mexico.
99% of working residents leave El Duende for work
Where El Duende’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About El Duende
Census-designated place in New Mexico, United States
San Francisco el Duende, more commonly known as El Duende ("the dwarf" in Spanish, of unknown application) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, El Duende had a population of 573. The community is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 84/285 and New Mexico State Road 74.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 1.5 sq mi
- Elevation
- 5,695 ft
Questions about El Duende
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is El Duende, NM a good place to live?
El Duende has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.