Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Haystack
Working residents average 24 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). For 28% of workers, the job is at home, where New Mexico as a whole has 12%. Hardly any work in Haystack itself; outside it, Gallup draws the most (17%, 47 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Haystack: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 29 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 0 people come in from elsewhere.
About 220 people are in Haystack on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.00 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Haystack goes to work
Where Haystack clocks in
17% of workers
17% 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 24 minutes to work from Haystack
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Haystack workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 44 commuters (the 28% 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 miles Haystack commutes
About 45% 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.
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 Haystack: questions
What is the poverty rate in Haystack?
28.4%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Haystack?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Haystack work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gallup (17%, 47 mi), Crownpoint (17%, 29 mi), Grants (14%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Haystack without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Haystack, from the people who make the trip.
More of Haystack
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.