Photo: AllenS · Public domainWork means Albuquerque for about half of Los Lunas’ working residents
Jobs and income earn Los Lunas C; getting around on foot earns it B+. About one in five stay in Los Lunas for work; outside it, Albuquerque is the main destination (47%, 22 miles). Household incomes here are lower than in 70% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Los Lunas apart
Los Lunas trades workers with the towns around it
Los Lunas has about as many jobs (7,577) as working residents (7,465), but they are mostly different people: 6,162 residents leave for work each day while 6,274 people come in. Only 17% of the jobs in Los Lunas are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Nearly half of Los Lunas works in Albuquerque
3,536 working residents, 47%, have their main job in Albuquerque, 23 miles away. That’s 3 times as many as work in Los Lunas itself. The commute map ↓
Los Lunas has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Los Lunas went from 4,939 in 2013 to 7,577 in 2023, +53%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Los Lunas: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Los Lunas is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #27 of 72 in New Mexico. Job access by car holds Los Lunas’ grade up (ahead of 60% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (18.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Los Lunas could be anywhere from D to B.
Los Lunas by day and by night
On a workday 6,162 residents head out to work, 1,303 work right here, and 6,274 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 (1.02 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.
The places Los Lunas commutes to
Where Los Lunas clocks in
47% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
Inside Los Lunas’ 7,577 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Los Lunas, 2013 → 2023: 4,939 → 7,577. 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 Los Lunas’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Los Lunas: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Los Lunas workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,737 commuters (the 9% 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.
How many miles Los Lunas commutes
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.
Los Lunas is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Los Lunas is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #21 of 73 in New Mexico. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% of 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 6,320 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 54% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 13% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 46% 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). 2.8% of Los Lunas households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Los Lunas’ commuters take a bus or train.
1,559th of 1,931: where Los Lunas ranks among U.S. towns of 14,000 to 28,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,487 | Sunland Park NM | 18,268 | $63K | 22.4% | 4.6% | 8% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,557 | Muscatine IA | 23,164 | $58K | 19.1% | 4.3% | 51% | C |
| 1,558 | Faribault MN | 25,040 | $61K | 16.4% | 5.4% | 39% | C |
| 1,559 | Los Lunas NM | 20,572 | $62K | 18.2% | 4.9% | 17% | C |
| 1,560 | Camp Pendleton South CA | 15,766 | $70K | 6.6% | 13.2% | 1% | C |
| 1,561 | Shafter CA | 23,871 | $71K | 20.7% | 5.8% | 17% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,838 | Deming NM | 14,944 | $34K | 30.9% | 2.7% | 45% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,840 | Gallup NM | 19,969 | $58K | 26.8% | 5.7% | 63% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,931 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Los Lunas, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
The towns around Los Lunas
The biggest share goes to Los Chaves (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Los Lunas workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Lunas | – | C | B+ | 26 min | $62,330 |
| Valencia | under 1% | C− | C | 30 min | $55,170 |
| El Cerro | under 1% | B+ | C | 28 min | $106,136 |
| Peralta | under 1% | B | C+ | 32 min | $73,131 |
| Los Chaves | 1% | B− | D | 27 min | $79,662 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Los Lunas’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 Los Lunas: questions
What is the median household income in Los Lunas?
$62,330 (±$13,286) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Los Lunas?
18.2%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Los Lunas?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Los Lunas work?
17% work in town.
Is Los Lunas walkable?
Los Lunas is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Los Lunas without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 13% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Los Lunas, from the people who make the trip.
More of Los Lunas
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.