Photo: AllenS · Public domainElephant Butte’s household incomes are lower than in 83% of U.S. towns
6% of workers have no commute at all, next to 12% for New Mexico as a whole. Poverty touches 10.7% of residents, next to 17.8% for New Mexico as a whole. Elephant Butte grades D for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Elephant Butte
A big share show a job far from home
59% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Elephant Butte and Truth or Consequences trade workers both ways
Truth or Consequences is the top workplace for Elephant Butte residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Elephant Butte come from (34% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Elephant Butte are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 24 across New Mexico. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Mexico worker. 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 299 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Elephant Butte
The poverty rate holds Elephant Butte’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (5.3%) is left out: Elephant Butte’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Elephant Butte could be anywhere from D− to B−.
Miles to work from Elephant Butte
About 59% 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.
26% of working residents work in Truth or Consequences
Where Elephant Butte clocks in
26% of workers
11% of workers
9% 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.
About 12 minutes each way, quicker than most of New Mexico
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elephant Butte workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 505 commuters (the 6% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Elephant Butte
On a workday 278 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 319 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.14 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Inside Elephant Butte’s 340 jobs
340 jobs are based in Elephant Butte.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elephant Butte, 2013 → 2023: 246 → 340. 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 Elephant Butte’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Elephant Butte, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elephant Butte is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.4% across New Mexico.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 537 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). 7.6% of Elephant Butte households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elephant Butte’s commuters take a bus or train.
Elephant Butte places 5,075th of 6,308 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 815 | Tres Arroyos NM | 1,926 | $88K | 2.2% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 905 | Santa Ana Pueblo NM | 1,026 | $86K | 5.5% | 2.9% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 977 | Little Walnut Village NM | 1,445 | $125K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,073 | La Harpe IL | 1,124 | $49K | 12.9% | 1.0% | 10% | D |
| 5,074 | Marion MS | 1,721 | $47K | 21.2% | 7.2% | 2% | D |
| 5,075 | Elephant Butte NM | 1,456 | $53K | 10.7% | 5.3% | 7% | D |
| 5,076 | Malvern OH | 1,092 | $31K | 26.6% | 4.3% | 3% | D |
| 5,077 | Pendleton Township IL | 1,133 | $58K | 16.2% | 1.6% | 1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 Elephant Butte, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
Elephant Butte and its neighbors: 26% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Elephant Butte workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elephant Butte | – | D | C | 12 min | $53,482 |
| Hot Springs Landing | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Truth or Consequences | 26% | C− | B+ | 12 min | $33,788 |
Same-state neighbors only. Hot Springs Landing: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Truth or Consequences. Darker towns draw more of Elephant Butte’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 Elephant Butte: questions
What is the median household income in Elephant Butte?
$53,482 (±$16,863) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elephant Butte?
10.7%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elephant Butte?
12 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elephant Butte work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Truth or Consequences (26%, 5 mi), Las Cruces (11%, 64 mi), Albuquerque (9%, 137 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elephant Butte walkable?
Elephant Butte is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elephant Butte without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elephant Butte, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elephant Butte
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.