St. Joseph Apache Mission Church · Photo: Bozotexino · CC BY 3.0With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Mescalero works elsewhere
For 0% of workers, the job is at home, where New Mexico as a whole has 12%. There are 76 jobs in Mescalero; 540 of its residents have a job. Only 2% work in Mescalero; the top destination outside it is Ruidoso (7%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Mescalero
Mescalero is a place people come home to
There are 76 jobs based in Mescalero, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Mescalero has about 370 people in it, 56% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Mescalero workers earn over $40,000 a year
29% of Mescalero’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 17% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Mescalero are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across New Mexico. That’s about 54 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; with 540 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The daily flow of workers through Mescalero
On a workday 528 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 64 people come in from elsewhere.
About 370 people are in Mescalero on a workday afternoon, 56% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Jobs in Mescalero: what the 76 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mescalero, 2013 → 2023: 275 → 76. 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 Mescalero’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 17 minutes to work from Mescalero
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mescalero workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 299 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.
The places Mescalero commutes to
Where Mescalero clocks in
7% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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.
How far it is to work from Mescalero
About 28% 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.
Next door to Mescalero
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mescalero workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mescalero | – | — | — | 17 min | $24,313 |
| Bent | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Bent: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mescalero’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 Mescalero: questions
What is the median household income in Mescalero?
$24,313 (±$4,068) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mescalero?
42.7%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mescalero?
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 Mescalero work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ruidoso (7%, 17 mi), Albuquerque (4%, 144 mi), Farmington (2%, 284 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Mescalero without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mescalero, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mescalero
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.