Hobbs draws more than half of North Hobbs’ working residents
The two grades for North Hobbs are C for jobs and income and C− for walkability. 1% of workers work from home, against 12% across New Mexico. Measured by household income, North Hobbs is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
North Hobbs at work: what stands out
More than half of North Hobbs works in Hobbs
1,513 working residents, 55%, have their main job in Hobbs, 3.7 miles away across the town line. That’s 14 times as many as work in North Hobbs itself. The commute map ↓
North Hobbs makes and builds things
64% of the jobs based in North Hobbs are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs North Hobbs residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 31%. The jobs ↓
North Hobbs is a place people come home to
There are 718 jobs based in North Hobbs, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday North Hobbs has about 4,000 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Most North Hobbs residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Few North Hobbs workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 12% across New Mexico. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in North Hobbs
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, North Hobbs is better than 32% of U.S. towns, #26 of 72 in New Mexico. Household income holds North Hobbs’ grade up ($82,554, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.1%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, North Hobbs could be anywhere from D to B+.
Where people from North Hobbs work
Where North Hobbs clocks in
55% of workers
5% 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.
A place that makes things: 64% of North Hobbs’ jobs are in goods
718 jobs are based in North Hobbs.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in North Hobbs, 2013 → 2023: 560 → 718. 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 North Hobbs’s own residents hold wherever they work.
North Hobbs quiets down on a workday
On a workday 2,662 residents head out to work, 109 work right here, and 609 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,000 people are in North Hobbs on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.26 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
How far it is to work from North Hobbs
About 26% 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.
North Hobbs’ commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of North Hobbs workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,355 commuters (the 1% 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.
For most of North Hobbs, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, North Hobbs is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns, #63 of 73 in New Mexico. Both inputs place North Hobbs 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 2,386 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). 3.7% of North Hobbs households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of North Hobbs’ commuters take a bus or train.
North Hobbs is 2,471st of 3,394 U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,100 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 548 | White Rock NM | 5,716 | $157K | 2.5% | 0.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 713 | Placitas NM | 4,223 | $110K | 3.2% | 3.5% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 775 | Los Ranchos de Albuquerque NM | 5,790 | $73K | 8.8% | 0.8% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,469 | Brookridge FL | 4,923 | $54K | 8.1% | 6.3% | 4% | C |
| 2,470 | Chattanooga Valley GA | 4,601 | $53K | 31.0% | 0.7% | 1% | C |
| 2,471 | North Hobbs NM | 6,034 | $83K | 12.8% | 6.1% | 4% | C |
| 2,472 | Shelbyville IL | 4,537 | $52K | 13.2% | 3.2% | 34% | C |
| 2,473 | Granville NY | 6,194 | $69K | 12.1% | 3.9% | 19% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,394 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 North Hobbs, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
North Hobbs and its neighbors: 55% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | North Hobbs workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Hobbs | – | C | C− | 21 min | $82,554 |
| Hobbs | 55% | C− | B+ | 24 min | $64,021 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Hobbs. Darker towns draw more of North Hobbs’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 North Hobbs: questions
What is the median household income in North Hobbs?
$82,554 (±$12,530) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in North Hobbs?
12.8%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from North Hobbs?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in North Hobbs work?
4% work in town.
Is North Hobbs walkable?
North Hobbs is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around North Hobbs without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from North Hobbs, from the people who make the trip.
More of North Hobbs
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.