Peter and Henriette Wyeth Hurd House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Ruidoso Downs has some of the lowest household incomes of any U.S. town
Measured by household income, Ruidoso Downs is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. Below the poverty line: 40.5% of residents, next to 17.8% for New Mexico as a whole. Ruidoso Downs grades D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Ruidoso Downs
Ruidoso Downs and Ruidoso trade workers both ways
Ruidoso is the top workplace for Ruidoso Downs residents (35%) and also where the most people who work in Ruidoso Downs come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Ruidoso Downs has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Ruidoso Downs went from 445 in 2013 to 748 in 2023, +68%. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Ruidoso Downs workers earn over $40,000 a year
36% of Ruidoso Downs’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 20% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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 781 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Ruidoso Downs’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ruidoso Downs is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #55 of 72 in New Mexico. Unemployment holds Ruidoso Downs’ grade up (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ruidoso Downs could be anywhere from D− to C−.
35% of working residents work in Ruidoso
Where Ruidoso Downs clocks in
35% of workers
8% 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.
Jobs in Ruidoso Downs: what the 748 are
748 jobs are based in Ruidoso Downs.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ruidoso Downs, 2013 → 2023: 445 → 748. 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 Ruidoso Downs’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Ruidoso Downs
On a workday 688 residents head out to work, 93 work right here, and 655 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 (0.96 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.
Commuting from Ruidoso Downs: about 13 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ruidoso Downs workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 913 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.
Miles to work from Ruidoso Downs
About 33% 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.
Most trips from Ruidoso Downs start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ruidoso Downs is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns, #47 of 73 in New Mexico. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.2% 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 917 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). 4.0% of Ruidoso Downs households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ruidoso Downs’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Ruidoso Downs is 4,507th of 5,083 U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 403 | Sandia Heights NM | 3,160 | $144K | 4.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 767 | Picacho Hills NM | 2,002 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 971 | Tres Arroyos NM | 1,926 | $88K | 2.2% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,505 | Christy Township IL | 2,128 | $75K | 20.9% | 10.3% | 4% | D |
| 4,506 | East Tawas MI | 2,662 | $42K | 15.7% | 5.2% | 9% | D |
| 4,507 | Ruidoso Downs NM | 2,588 | $31K | 40.5% | 3.4% | 12% | D |
| 4,508 | Boonville NY | 1,986 | $51K | 18.1% | 8.0% | 11% | D |
| 4,509 | Ladonia AL | 3,346 | $53K | 16.0% | 10.7% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Ruidoso Downs, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
Ruidoso Downs and its neighbors: 35% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ruidoso Downs workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruidoso Downs | – | D | C+ | 13 min | $31,354 |
| Ruidoso | 35% | C− | B+ | 14 min | $52,736 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Ruidoso. Darker towns draw more of Ruidoso Downs’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 Ruidoso Downs: questions
What is the median household income in Ruidoso Downs?
$31,354 (±$17,966) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ruidoso Downs?
40.5%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ruidoso Downs?
13 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 Ruidoso Downs work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ruidoso (35%, 4 mi), Albuquerque (8%, 136 mi), Roswell (5%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ruidoso Downs walkable?
Ruidoso Downs is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ruidoso Downs 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 Ruidoso Downs, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ruidoso Downs
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.