Carlsbad draws more than half of La Huerta’s working residents
For 0% of workers, the job is at home, where New Mexico as a whole has 12%. La Huerta grades C+ for jobs and income and D for walkability. The trip to work takes 22 minutes on average, where New Mexico has 24 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set La Huerta apart
Most La Huerta residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Few La Huerta workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 12% across New Mexico. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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 586 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where La Huerta’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, La Huerta is better than 45% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds La Huerta’s grade up (8.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 28% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: La Huerta’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, La Huerta could be anywhere from D to A−.
Where people from La Huerta work
Where La Huerta clocks in
60% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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.
Miles to work from La Huerta
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.
Each way, about 22 minutes from La Huerta
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of La Huerta workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 569 commuters (the 0% 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.
In and out of La Huerta on a workday
On a workday 575 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 215 people come in from elsewhere.
About 930 people are in La Huerta on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.39 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.
Goods jobs make up 55% of work in La Huerta
226 jobs are based in La Huerta.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in La Huerta, 2013 → 2023: 142 → 226. 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 La Huerta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most of La Huerta commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, La Huerta is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 569 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). 1.0% of La Huerta households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of La Huerta’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, La Huerta is 1,919th among 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 652 | Santa Ana Pueblo NM | 1,026 | $86K | 5.5% | 2.9% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 705 | Little Walnut Village NM | 1,445 | $125K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 962 | Cuartelez NM | 1,512 | $114K | 5.6% | 20.8% | 0% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,917 | Washington Township PA | 1,634 | $66K | 6.0% | 4.3% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,918 | Falls Township PA | 1,677 | $74K | 11.6% | 4.6% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,919 | La Huerta NM | 1,288 | $79K | 8.9% | 0.0% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,920 | North Lewisburg OH | 1,657 | $59K | 8.4% | 9.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,921 | Alpine WY | 1,382 | $99K | 8.0% | 0.0% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 La Huerta, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
60% of La Huerta works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Carlsbad. Darker towns draw more of La Huerta’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 La Huerta: questions
What is the median household income in La Huerta?
$78,861 (±$28,476) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in La Huerta?
8.9%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from La Huerta?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in La Huerta work?
2% work in town.
Is La Huerta walkable?
La Huerta is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around La Huerta without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from La Huerta, from the people who make the trip.
More of La Huerta
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.