Photo: afiler from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0More than half of Gallup’s working residents work in town
Jobs & income D: better than 14% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #43 of 72 in New Mexico.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns · #14 of 73 in New Mexico.
Household incomes here are lower than in 77% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 21 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). More than half work in Gallup; the top destination outside it is St. Michaels (5%, 22 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.4 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 5.2 in Albuquerque (EPA, 2020 schedules).
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 Gallup
What’s behind Gallup’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Gallup is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #43 of 72 in New Mexico. Job access by car holds Gallup’s grade up (ahead of 35% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (26.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gallup could be anywhere from D to C.
Gallup fills up on a workday
On a workday 3,992 residents head out to work, 6,773 work right here, and 6,851 people come in from elsewhere.
About 23,000 people are in Gallup on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.27 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.
5% of working residents work in St. Michaels
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Gallup clocks in
5% of workers
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 13,624 jobs in Gallup are
13,624 jobs are based in Gallup. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Gallup’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gallup, 2013 → 2023: 14,373 → 13,624. 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.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker 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 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gallup workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,186 commuters (the 5% 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 Gallup commutes less than 3 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 17% 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.
Gallup is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gallup is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #14 of 73 in New Mexico. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 7,599 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 28% 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 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 49% 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). 8.7% of Gallup households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Gallup’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Gallup compares with U.S. towns of 14,000 to 27,000
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Gallup, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,429 | Sunland Park NM | 18,268 | $63K | 22.4% | 4.6% | 8% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,497 | Los Lunas NM | 20,572 | $62K | 18.2% | 4.9% | 17% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,768 | Deming NM | 14,944 | $34K | 30.9% | 2.7% | 45% | D |
| 1,769 | Altamont OR | 19,927 | $59K | 16.9% | 7.4% | 17% | D |
| 1,770 | Gallup NM | 19,969 | $58K | 26.8% | 5.7% | 63% | D |
| 1,771 | Lumberton NC | 18,955 | $43K | 30.8% | 5.6% | 34% | D |
| 1,772 | Duncan OK | 23,238 | $58K | 20.5% | 6.8% | 46% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,784 | Chaparral NM | 18,186 | $46K | 27.4% | 6.3% | 7% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,860 | 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.
Gallup and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Church Rock (2%). Darker towns draw more of Gallup’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gallup workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallup | – | D | A− | 21 min | $58,303 |
| Catalpa Canyon | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
| Church Rock | 2% | D− | D− | 31 min | $35,083 |
| Sundance | under 1% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Catalpa Canyon and Sundance: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. 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 Gallup: questions
What is the median household income in Gallup?
$58,303 (±$2,897) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gallup?
26.8%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gallup?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gallup work?
63% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Michaels (5%, 22 mi), Albuquerque (5%, 122 mi), Crownpoint (2%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gallup walkable?
Gallup is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gallup without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gallup, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gallup
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.