Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY 3.0For about half of its working residents, Kirtland AFB is a commute to Albuquerque
Household incomes here are higher than in 62% of U.S. towns. Kirtland AFB grades B for jobs and income and A for walkability. 3% of workers have no commute at all, next to 12% for New Mexico as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Kirtland AFB
Kirtland AFB fills up on a workday
Kirtland AFB has 17,816 jobs, 34.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 21,000 people are in town, 6 times the 3,400 who live here. Day and night ↓
The jobs in Kirtland AFB pay better than its residents’ jobs
94% of the jobs based in Kirtland AFB pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 59% of the jobs Kirtland AFB residents hold. 100% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Kirtland AFB. 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 516 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Kirtland AFB’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Kirtland AFB is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #10 of 72 in New Mexico. Job access by car holds Kirtland AFB’s grade up (ahead of 79% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.9%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (6.9%) is left out: Kirtland AFB’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Kirtland AFB could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Who leaves Kirtland AFB for work, and who comes in
On a workday 449 residents head out to work, 67 work right here, and 17,749 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Kirtland AFB on a workday afternoon, 507% more than live here.
34.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Who travels to work in Kirtland AFB, and from where
Where Kirtland AFB clocks in
50% of workers
6% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
17,816 jobs are based in Kirtland AFB.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kirtland AFB, 2013 → 2023: 11,290 → 17,816. 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 Kirtland AFB’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Kirtland AFB: about 9 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 2.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kirtland AFB workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,958 commuters (the 3% 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 Kirtland AFB commutes
About 25% 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.
Kirtland AFB is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,014 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 18% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 10.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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). 2.4% of Kirtland AFB households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Kirtland AFB’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600, Kirtland AFB ranks 1,531st of 4,402 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 435 | Sandia Heights NM | 3,160 | $144K | 4.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 744 | Placitas NM | 4,223 | $110K | 3.2% | 3.5% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,414 | El Cerro NM | 2,923 | $106K | 5.9% | 4.5% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,529 | Crockett CA | 3,372 | $111K | 11.2% | 6.5% | 5% | B |
| 1,530 | Tangelo Park FL | 2,404 | $68K | 8.9% | 4.3% | 0% | B |
| 1,531 | Kirtland AFB NM | 3,413 | $85K | 12.9% | 6.9% | 13% | B |
| 1,532 | North Wildwood NJ | 3,518 | $91K | 4.7% | 4.3% | 13% | B |
| 1,533 | Brazoria TX | 2,882 | $80K | 11.8% | 0.8% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Kirtland AFB, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
Work next door: 50% of Kirtland AFB’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kirtland AFB workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirtland AFB | – | B | A | 9 min | $84,884 |
| Albuquerque | 50% | C+ | A | 22 min | $68,317 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Albuquerque. Darker towns draw more of Kirtland AFB’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Kirtland AFB: questions
What is the median household income in Kirtland AFB?
$84,884 (±$12,193) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kirtland AFB?
12.9%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kirtland AFB?
9 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kirtland AFB work?
13% work in town.
Is Kirtland AFB walkable?
Kirtland AFB is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.7 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kirtland AFB without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 18% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kirtland AFB, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kirtland AFB
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.