Charley's Automotive Service · Photo: Bill Eichelberger · CC BY-SA 4.0Grants’ household incomes are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D−: better than 5% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #62 of 72 in New Mexico.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns · #16 of 73 in New Mexico.
Working residents average 16 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). About two in five work in Grants; the top destination outside it is Milan (10%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Grants, in brief
Commutes from Grants are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 24 across New Mexico. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Mexico worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Grants than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Grants fell from 4,384 in 2013 to 2,978 in 2023, −32%. 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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 ↓
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.
What’s behind Grants’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Grants is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #62 of 72 in New Mexico. Unemployment holds Grants’ grade up (6.0%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (34.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Grants could be anywhere from D− to C−.
About 16 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 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grants workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,519 commuters (the 12% 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.
What the 2,978 jobs in Grants are
2,978 jobs are based in Grants. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Grants’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grants, 2013 → 2023: 4,384 → 2,978. 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.
Half of Grants commutes less than 5 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 36% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,809 residents head out to work, 1,175 work right here, and 1,803 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 (1.00 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.
10% of working residents work in Milan
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Grants clocks in
10% of workers
9% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Grants 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, Grants is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #16 of 73 in New Mexico. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across New Mexico, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,858 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 Grants households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Grants’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Grants compares with U.S. towns of 6,300 to 12,100
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Grants, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,269 | Corrales NM | 8,484 | $102K | 7.0% | 6.3% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,168 | Bernalillo NM | 9,159 | $64K | 15.9% | 6.9% | 12% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,237 | North Valley NM | 10,455 | $61K | 17.6% | 8.5% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,814 | Trinidad CO | 8,091 | $52K | 21.1% | 7.3% | 46% | D− |
| 2,815 | West Point MS | 9,743 | $38K | 25.6% | 11.6% | 31% | D− |
| 2,816 | Grants NM | 8,933 | $47K | 34.1% | 6.0% | 39% | D− |
| 2,817 | Hornell NY | 8,024 | $47K | 23.3% | 11.4% | 31% | D− |
| 2,818 | Smoky Hill Township KS | 9,191 | $51K | 22.3% | 14.7% | 3% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,862 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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.
10% of Grants works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Milan (10%). Darker towns draw more of Grants’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Grants workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants | – | D− | A− | 16 min | $47,183 |
| San Rafael | under 1% | C− | D− | — | $83,423 |
| Milan | 10% | D− | B− | 22 min | $36,133 |
| Mount Taylor | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Mount Taylor: 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 Grants: questions
What is the median household income in Grants?
$47,183 (±$10,093) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grants?
34.1%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grants?
16 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grants work?
39% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Milan (10%, 4 mi), Albuquerque (9%, 67 mi), Gallup (7%, 57 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Grants walkable?
Grants is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Grants 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 Grants, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grants
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.