Photo: A person of sorts · CC BY 4.0Earning a living in Mountainair
Working from home is the commute for 21% of workers; New Mexico has 12%. About one in five work in Mountainair itself; outside it, Albuquerque draws the most (22%, 46 miles). The trip to work takes 18 minutes on average; New Mexico averages 24, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Mountainair and work: the main findings
Mountainair’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Mountainair is Albuquerque, 47 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (46) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
A lot of Mountainair works from home
21% of Mountainair workers work from home, against 12% across New Mexico. 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 206 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How many miles Mountainair commutes
About 32% 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.
From Mountainair, about 18 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mountainair workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 280 commuters (the 21% 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.
Who commutes out of Mountainair, and who commutes in
On a workday 161 residents head out to work, 45 work right here, and 252 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Mountainair on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.44 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.
Where Mountainair’s working residents head each day
Where Mountainair clocks in
22% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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 Mountainair’s 297 jobs
297 jobs are based in Mountainair.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mountainair, 2013 → 2023: 126 → 297. 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 Mountainair’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Mountainair: questions
What is the median household income in Mountainair?
$43,021 (±$7,394) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mountainair?
22.1%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mountainair?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mountainair work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albuquerque (22%, 46 mi), Estancia (6%, 20 mi), El Paso (5%, 185 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Mountainair without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mountainair, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mountainair
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.