Photo: Vasiliymeshko · CC BY-SA 4.0Roswell’s household incomes are lower than in 86% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D: better than 14% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #41 of 72 in New Mexico.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns · #26 of 73 in New Mexico.
Working residents average 18 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). More than half work in Roswell; the top destination outside it is Albuquerque (5%, 170 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Roswell, in brief
Most jobs in Roswell go to people who live here
Of the 15,843 jobs based in Roswell, 59% are held by Roswell residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Roswell are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across New Mexico. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Mexico worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% 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.
What’s behind Roswell’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Roswell is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #41 of 72 in New Mexico. Unemployment holds Roswell’s grade up (5.0%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (26.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Roswell could be anywhere from D to C−.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 8,595 residents head out to work, 9,284 work right here, and 6,559 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 (0.89 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.
About 18 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 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Roswell workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 18,097 commuters (the 5% 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 Roswell commutes less than 5 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 30% 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.
5% of working residents work in Albuquerque
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Roswell clocks in
5% of workers
4% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 15,843 jobs in Roswell are
15,843 jobs are based in Roswell. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Roswell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Roswell, 2013 → 2023: 16,014 → 15,843. 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.
Most trips from Roswell start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Roswell is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #26 of 73 in New Mexico. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.4% across New Mexico.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 19,041 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). 6.5% of Roswell households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Roswell’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Roswell compares with U.S. towns of 33,000 to 63,000
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Roswell, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 722 | Farmington NM | 46,055 | $69K | 17.4% | 3.9% | 60% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 727 | South Valley NM | 37,120 | $58K | 18.5% | 4.3% | 7% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 857 | Hobbs NM | 40,863 | $64K | 19.7% | 6.3% | 56% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 885 | Wayne Township IN | 39,551 | $48K | 23.5% | 6.6% | 50% | C− |
| 886 | Phenix City AL | 38,344 | $50K | 24.5% | 5.4% | 17% | D |
| 887 | Roswell NM | 46,878 | $52K | 26.0% | 5.0% | 52% | D |
| 888 | Morristown TN | 33,517 | $48K | 26.0% | 7.1% | 46% | D |
| 889 | Muskegon MI | 37,224 | $45K | 24.9% | 9.4% | 22% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 923 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Roswell: questions
What is the median household income in Roswell?
$51,583 (±$3,711) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Roswell?
26.0%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Roswell?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Roswell work?
52% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albuquerque (5%, 170 mi), Artesia (4%, 37 mi), Carlsbad (3%, 69 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Roswell walkable?
Roswell is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Roswell without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Roswell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Roswell
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.