Prewitt’s household incomes are among the lowest in the country
Jobs & income D−: near the bottom of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Working residents average 43 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). Only 2% work in Prewitt; the top destination outside it is Gallup (23%, 39 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What’s behind Prewitt’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Prewitt is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Prewitt’s grade.
Unemployment (24.7%) is left out: Prewitt’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Prewitt stays D−.
Prewitt quiets down on a workday
On a workday 113 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 4 people come in from elsewhere.
About 920 people are in Prewitt on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.05 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.
23% of working residents work in Gallup
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Prewitt clocks in
23% of workers
15% 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
6 jobs are based in Prewitt. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Prewitt’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Prewitt, 2013 → 2023: 124 → 6. 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 43 minutes each way, longer 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 13.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Prewitt workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 102 commuters (the 30% 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 Prewitt commutes less than 40 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 46% 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.
How Prewitt compares with U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Prewitt, 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 386 | Santa Ana Pueblo NM | 1,026 | $86K | 5.5% | 2.9% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 663 | Barton NM | 1,302 | $82K | 6.6% | 5.8% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 790 | Atoka NM | 1,347 | $84K | 3.3% | 0.0% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,130 | Polvadera NM | 1,033 | $27K | 88.7% | 0.0% | 0% | D− |
| 3,131 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | D− |
| 3,132 | Prewitt NM | 1,027 | $19K | 54.4% | 24.7% | 2% | D− |
| 3,133 | 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 Prewitt: questions
What is the median household income in Prewitt?
$19,074 (±$5,441) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Prewitt?
54.4%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Prewitt?
43 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Prewitt work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gallup (23%, 39 mi), Albuquerque (15%, 83 mi), Grants (9%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Prewitt without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Prewitt, from the people who make the trip.
More of Prewitt
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.