La Mesilla has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Hardly any work in La Mesilla; the top destination outside it is Los Alamos (31%, 13 miles). 34 jobs are based in La Mesilla; 597 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn La Mesilla B; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in La Mesilla
La Mesilla is a place people come home to
There are 34 jobs based in La Mesilla, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
31% of La Mesilla works in Los Alamos
183 working residents, 31%, have their main job in Los Alamos, 13 miles away. That’s 31 times as many as work in La Mesilla itself. The commute map ↓
La Mesilla workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 24 across New Mexico. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. 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 597 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind La Mesilla’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, La Mesilla is better than 60% of U.S. towns, #13 of 72 in New Mexico. Unemployment holds La Mesilla’s grade up (1.9%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 26% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, La Mesilla could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
La Mesilla quiets down on a workday
On a workday 593 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 30 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in La Mesilla on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of La Mesilla to work: where people go
Where La Mesilla clocks in
31% of workers
13% of workers
12% 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.
Getting to work from La Mesilla takes about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of La Mesilla workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,026 commuters (the 15% 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.
Goods, not services: 38% of the jobs in La Mesilla
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in La Mesilla, 2013 → 2023: 212 → 34. 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 Mesilla’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far La Mesilla’s workers travel
About 26% 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.
The commute in La Mesilla is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, La Mesilla is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns, #52 of 73 in New Mexico. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across New Mexico, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,208 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). 0.6% of La Mesilla households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of La Mesilla’s commuters take a bus or train.
La Mesilla is 1,715th of 4,797 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600 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 | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 382 | Sandia Heights NM | 3,160 | $144K | 4.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 745 | Picacho Hills NM | 2,002 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 940 | Tres Arroyos NM | 1,926 | $88K | 2.2% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,713 | New Stanton PA | 2,338 | $71K | 7.9% | 4.7% | 6% | B |
| 1,714 | South Hackensack Township NJ | 2,755 | $85K | 13.7% | 5.6% | 3% | B |
| 1,715 | La Mesilla NM | 2,697 | $81K | 9.0% | 1.9% | 1% | B |
| 1,716 | Loxahatchee Groves FL | 3,549 | $112K | 8.5% | 7.5% | 5% | B |
| 1,717 | Ross Township IN | 2,854 | $86K | 6.1% | 4.9% | 9% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Mesilla, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
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 Mesilla: questions
What is the median household income in La Mesilla?
$81,438 (±$12,322) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in La Mesilla?
9.0%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from La Mesilla?
33 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in La Mesilla work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Alamos (31%, 13 mi), Santa Fe (13%, 20 mi), Albuquerque (12%, 66 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is La Mesilla walkable?
La Mesilla is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around La Mesilla 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 Mesilla, from the people who make the trip.
More of La Mesilla
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.