Photo: EFreiboth · CC BY-SA 4.0Questa’s household incomes are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income C−: better than 16% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access.
Walkability B: more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns.
Working residents average 20 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). About one in five work in Questa; the top destination outside it is Red River (20%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Questa
Fewer jobs are based in Questa than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Questa fell from 562 in 2013 to 356 in 2023, −37%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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 ↓
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 434 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Questa’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Questa is better than 16% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Questa’s grade up (3.0%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Questa could be anywhere from D− to B−.
What the 356 jobs in Questa are
356 jobs are based in Questa. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Questa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Questa, 2013 → 2023: 562 → 356. 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.
Half of Questa commutes less than 21 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 31% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 359 residents head out to work, 75 work right here, and 281 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 (0.82 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.
20% of working residents work in Red River
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Questa clocks in
20% of workers
14% of workers
9% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker 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 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Questa workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 870 commuters (the 16% 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.
Most trips from Questa start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Questa is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across New Mexico, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,030 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). 0.0% of Questa households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Questa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Questa is 4,097th of 5,343 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Questa, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 642 | Picacho Hills NM | 2,002 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 814 | Tres Arroyos NM | 1,926 | $88K | 2.2% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 967 | Little Walnut Village NM | 1,445 | $125K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,095 | Daniels WV | 1,489 | $60K | 24.2% | 3.9% | 3% | C− |
| 4,096 | Vincent AL | 2,045 | $53K | 21.7% | 10.5% | 1% | C− |
| 4,097 | Questa NM | 1,809 | $47K | 17.5% | 3.0% | 17% | C− |
| 4,098 | Greenbush ME | 1,531 | $60K | 10.2% | 9.6% | 4% | C− |
| 4,099 | Albee Township MI | 2,023 | $61K | 25.3% | 10.8% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Questa: questions
What is the median household income in Questa?
$47,308 (±$22,198) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Questa?
17.5%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Questa?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Questa work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Red River (20%, 10 mi), Taos (14%, 22 mi), Albuquerque (9%, 126 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Questa walkable?
Questa is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Questa without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Questa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Questa
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.