Work means El Paso for about half of La Union’s working residents
Measured by household income, La Union is behind 79% of U.S. towns. La Union grades C for jobs and income and D− for walkability. 4% of workers work from home, against 12% across New Mexico.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from La Union
Nearly half of La Union works in El Paso
168 working residents, 47%, have their main job in El Paso, TX, 15 miles away. That’s 47 times as many as work in La Union itself. The commute map ↓
Many La Union workers cross into Texas
52% of La Union workers work outside New Mexico, most of them in Texas, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
La Union workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 24 across New Mexico. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 61 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 360 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside La Union’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, La Union is better than 30% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds La Union’s grade up (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($56,411, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (8.2%) is left out: La Union’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 Union could be anywhere from D to B+.
Commuting out of La Union: the destinations
Where La Union clocks in
47% of workers
8% of workers
8% 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 32 minutes each way for La Union’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of La Union workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 528 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.
La Union by day and by night
On a workday 355 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 165 people come in from elsewhere.
About 880 people are in La Union on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.47 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 36% of work in La Union
170 jobs are based in La Union.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in La Union, 2013 → 2023: 169 → 170. 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 Union’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of La Union commutes less than 15 miles
About 16% 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.
Getting around La Union: mostly by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 547 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 0.0% of La Union households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of La Union’s commuters take a bus or train.
La Union is 1,740th of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 386 | Santa Ana Pueblo NM | 1,026 | $86K | 5.5% | 2.9% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 663 | Barton NM | 1,302 | $82K | 6.6% | 5.8% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 790 | Atoka NM | 1,347 | $84K | 3.3% | 0.0% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,738 | Cassian WI | 1,086 | $80K | 9.9% | 2.9% | 2% | C |
| 1,739 | Charlotte Hall MD | 1,172 | $84K | 20.3% | 4.9% | 2% | C |
| 1,740 | La Union NM | 1,071 | $56K | 14.1% | 8.2% | 1% | C |
| 1,741 | Grant NE | 1,158 | $71K | 8.4% | 0.4% | 38% | C |
| 1,742 | Kenbridge VA | 1,103 | $62K | 7.5% | 0.7% | 11% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Union, 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 Union: questions
What is the median household income in La Union?
$56,411 (±$17,836) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in La Union?
14.1%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from La Union?
32 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in La Union work?
1% work in town.
Is La Union walkable?
La Union is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around La Union without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from La Union, from the people who make the trip.
More of La Union
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.