Unemployment in Jal (18.8%) is among the highest in the country
Jobs & income D−: better than 20% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access.
Walkability C: more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns.
Working residents average 18 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). About two in five work in Jal; the top destination outside it is Hobbs (7%, 43 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Jal, in brief
Jal has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Jal went from 509 in 2013 to 958 in 2023, +88%. 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 ↓
Jal makes and builds things
46% of the jobs based in Jal are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Jal residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 32%. The jobs ↓
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 660 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Jal’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jal is better than 20% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Jal’s grade.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jal stays D−.
Jal makes things: 46% of its jobs are in goods
958 jobs are based in Jal. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Jal’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jal, 2013 → 2023: 509 → 958. 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 Jal commutes less than 18 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.
Jal fills up on a workday
On a workday 370 residents head out to work, 290 work right here, and 668 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Jal on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 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.
7% of working residents work in Hobbs
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Jal clocks in
7% of workers
6% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 18 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 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jal workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 905 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.
Most trips from Jal start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jal is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.0% of 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 949 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). 1.9% of Jal households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jal’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Jal compares with U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Jal, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 718 | Picacho Hills NM | 2,002 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 911 | Tres Arroyos NM | 1,926 | $88K | 2.2% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,203 | Mesilla NM | 1,818 | $75K | 4.5% | 6.8% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,388 | Zwolle LA | 1,605 | $28K | 42.0% | 9.7% | 9% | D− |
| 5,389 | Piedmont MO | 1,862 | $40K | 49.0% | 8.2% | 28% | D− |
| 5,390 | Jal NM | 2,178 | — | 32.0% | 18.8% | 44% | D− |
| 5,391 | Scotland Neck NC | 1,586 | $19K | 44.8% | 14.5% | 13% | D− |
| 5,392 | Ridgely TN | 1,616 | $24K | 43.6% | 8.0% | 8% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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.
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 Jal: questions
What is the poverty rate in Jal?
32.0%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jal?
18 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 Jal work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hobbs (7%, 43 mi), Carlsbad (6%, 64 mi), Albuquerque (5%, 287 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jal walkable?
Jal is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jal without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jal, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jal
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.