Loving’s household incomes are lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D−: better than 4% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns.
Working residents average 17 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). About one in ten work in Loving; the top destination outside it is Carlsbad (39%, 12 miles).
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 Loving
Loving and Carlsbad trade workers both ways
Carlsbad is the top workplace for Loving residents (39%) and also where the most people who work in Loving come from (28% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Loving makes and builds things
68% of the jobs based in Loving are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Loving residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 37%. The jobs ↓
Loving is where the jobs are
Loving has 612 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
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 407 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Loving’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Loving is better than 4% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Loving’s grade.
Unemployment (16.2%) is left out: Loving’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Loving could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Where Loving’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Loving clocks in
39% 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.
Loving makes things: 68% of its jobs are in goods
612 jobs are based in Loving. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Loving’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Loving, 2013 → 2023: 289 → 612. 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.
Loving fills up on a workday
On a workday 372 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 577 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Loving on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of New Mexico
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Loving workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 408 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.
Half of Loving commutes less than 13 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 34% 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.
Loving is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Loving is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Loving 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 408 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). 2.4% of Loving households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Loving’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Loving compares with U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Loving, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 826 | Santa Ana Pueblo NM | 1,026 | $86K | 5.5% | 2.9% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 892 | Little Walnut Village NM | 1,445 | $125K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,038 | Mesilla NM | 1,818 | $75K | 4.5% | 6.8% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,373 | Humboldt KS | 1,807 | $48K | 24.0% | 19.0% | 19% | D− |
| 5,374 | Baraga MI | 1,746 | $44K | 17.2% | 1.5% | 42% | D− |
| 5,375 | Loving NM | 1,391 | $44K | 20.1% | 16.2% | 9% | D− |
| 5,376 | Robbins NC | 1,305 | $53K | 22.1% | 0.7% | 4% | D− |
| 5,377 | Mooreland OK | 1,122 | $55K | 22.8% | 0.0% | 9% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | 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.
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 Loving: questions
What is the median household income in Loving?
$43,884 (±$28,390) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Loving?
20.1%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Loving?
17 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 Loving work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Carlsbad (39%, 12 mi), Albuquerque (4%, 244 mi), Hobbs (3%, 63 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Loving walkable?
Loving is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Loving without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Loving, from the people who make the trip.
More of Loving
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.