Photo: Terry Umbenhaur · CC BY-SA 3.0Las Cruces has higher unemployment (7.0%) than 82% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Las Cruces C−; getting around on foot earns it A−. More than half work in Las Cruces itself; outside it, University Park draws the most (6%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Las Cruces: the gist
Most jobs in Las Cruces go to people who live here
Of the 47,828 jobs based in Las Cruces, 53% are held by Las Cruces residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Las Cruces are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across New Mexico. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Mexico 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Las Cruces
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Las Cruces is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #34 of 72 in New Mexico. Job access by car holds Las Cruces’ grade up (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (22.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Las Cruces could be anywhere from D to C−.
Who leaves Las Cruces for work, and who comes in
On a workday 16,635 residents head out to work, 25,121 work right here, and 22,707 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.15 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
A commute of about 19 minutes in Las Cruces
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Las Cruces workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 45,010 commuters (the 11% 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.
Where the trip to work from Las Cruces ends
Where Las Cruces clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
What work there is in Las Cruces: 47,828 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Las Cruces, 2013 → 2023: 42,209 → 47,828. 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 Las Cruces’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Las Cruces, by distance
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Las Cruces
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Las Cruces is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #19 of 73 in New Mexico. Both inputs place Las Cruces near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 50,384 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). 7.4% of Las Cruces households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Las Cruces’ commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
U.S. towns of 82,000 to 158,000, and where Las Cruces sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 153 | Rio Rancho NM | 114,419 | $90K | 7.4% | 4.6% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 268 | Santa Fe NM | 89,837 | $73K | 12.9% | 5.1% | 58% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 352 | Dayton OH | 136,688 | $45K | 26.9% | 9.0% | 27% | C− |
| 353 | Erie PA | 91,838 | $46K | 23.3% | 7.1% | 47% | C− |
| 354 | Las Cruces NM | 116,978 | $55K | 22.6% | 7.0% | 60% | C− |
| 355 | Merced CA | 99,724 | $63K | 23.9% | 11.3% | 31% | C− |
| 356 | Jackson MS | 141,196 | $42K | 27.9% | 9.3% | 45% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 359 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Las Cruces, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
Las Cruces and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Mesilla (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Las Cruces workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Las Cruces | – | C− | A− | 19 min | $55,422 |
| Mesilla | 1% | B+ | A | 16 min | $74,750 |
| Picacho Hills | under 1% | A− | C | 30 min | $120,850 |
| Tortugas | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Tortugas: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Las Cruces’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 Las Cruces: questions
What is the median household income in Las Cruces?
$55,422 (±$3,044) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Las Cruces?
22.6%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Las Cruces?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Las Cruces work?
60% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are University Park (6%, 4 mi), El Paso (5%, 39 mi), Albuquerque (4%, 192 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Las Cruces walkable?
Las Cruces is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Las Cruces without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Las Cruces, from the people who make the trip.
More of Las Cruces
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.