Photo: Ketiltrout · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs and the daily commute in Fort Sumner
Commuters spend 10 minutes getting to work on average, where New Mexico has 24 and the U.S. 26. Working from home is the commute for 0% of workers, against 12% across New Mexico. About one in three work in Fort Sumner itself; outside it, Albuquerque draws the most (11%, 143 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Fort Sumner
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 ↓
Fort Sumner’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Fort Sumner is Albuquerque, 143 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (36) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Fort Sumner are quick
The average trip to work takes 10 minutes, against 24 across New Mexico. That’s about 107 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 325 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The distance from Fort Sumner to work
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.
Commuting from Fort Sumner: about 10 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fort Sumner workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 426 commuters (the 0% 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.
How many people are in Fort Sumner by day
On a workday 224 residents head out to work, 101 work right here, and 209 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 (0.95 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.
The places Fort Sumner commutes to
Where Fort Sumner clocks in
11% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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.
Inside Fort Sumner’s 310 jobs
310 jobs are based in Fort Sumner.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fort Sumner, 2013 → 2023: 380 → 310. 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 Fort Sumner’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Fort Sumner: questions
What is the poverty rate in Fort Sumner?
17.3%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fort Sumner?
10 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fort Sumner work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albuquerque (11%, 143 mi), Clovis (7%, 60 mi), Portales (3%, 55 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Fort Sumner without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fort Sumner, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fort Sumner
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.