Jobs and earnings in Lake Valley, and the trip to work
The trip to work takes 49 minutes on average (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). Home is the office for 0% of workers, where New Mexico as a whole has 12%. Hardly any work in Lake Valley; the top destination outside it is Aztec (23%, 51 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Lake Valley, and who commutes in
On a workday 13 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 0 people come in from elsewhere.
About 70 people are in Lake Valley on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.00 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.
Commuting out of Lake Valley: the destinations
Where Lake Valley clocks in
23% of workers
15% 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.
The daily trip from Lake Valley: about 49 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Valley workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 29 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Lake Valley
About 50% 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.
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.
- Two counts of out-of-state work. The Census survey asks workers where they work: 0% of Lake Valley workers work outside New Mexico. The job records count 16% at employers in other states. The records use the address the employer reports and skip the self-employed, so the two can differ.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Lake Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Valley?
$83,158 (±$35,198) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Valley?
10.8%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Valley?
49 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 Lake Valley work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Aztec (23%, 51 mi), Farmington (15%, 46 mi), Durango (8%, 83 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Lake Valley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Valley
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.