Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0Maxwell has 0.9 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Working residents average 23 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). Only 2% work in Maxwell; the top destination outside it is Angel Fire (22%, 41 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 59 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 51 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 (0.87 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.
22% of working residents work in Angel Fire
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Maxwell clocks in
22% of workers
8% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
52 jobs are based in Maxwell. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Maxwell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Maxwell, 2013 → 2023: 28 → 52. 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.
About 23 minutes each way, about the NM average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Maxwell workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 67 commuters (the 17% 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 Maxwell commutes less than 43 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 47% 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.
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 Maxwell: questions
What is the median household income in Maxwell?
$31,667 (±$7,693) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Maxwell?
10.9%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Maxwell?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Maxwell work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Angel Fire (22%, 41 mi), Cimarron (8%, 20 mi), Springer (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Maxwell without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Maxwell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Maxwell
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.