Photo: Davishan99 · CC BY-SA 3.0Red River has 3.3 jobs for every working resident: 498 people commute in to work
Working residents average 10 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). About two in five work in Red River; the top destination outside it is Taos (8%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Red River nearly doubles on a workday
On a workday 100 residents head out to work, 72 work right here, and 498 people come in from elsewhere.
About 940 people are in Red River on a workday afternoon, 74% more than live here.
3.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Red River’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Red River clocks in
8% of workers
8% of workers
4% 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
570 jobs are based in Red River. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Red River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Red River, 2013 → 2023: 201 → 570. 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 10 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 3.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Red River workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 146 commuters (the 10% 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 Red River commutes less than 9 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 25% 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.
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 Red River: questions
What is the median household income in Red River?
$22,384 (±$19,880) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Red River?
8.9%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Red River?
10 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Red River work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Taos (8%, 24 mi), Questa (8%, 10 mi), Albuquerque (4%, 130 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Red River without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Red River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Red River
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.