Glenrio Historic District · Photo: Wordbuilder · CC BY 3.0Making a living in San Jon
Commuters spend 19 minutes getting to work on average, where New Mexico has 24 and the U.S. 26. For 0% of workers, the job is at home, next to 12% for New Mexico as a whole. Only 3% stay in San Jon for work; outside it, Tucumcari is the main destination (19%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of San Jon, and who commutes in
On a workday 68 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 80 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 (1.17 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.
Where the trip to work from San Jon ends
Where San Jon clocks in
19% of workers
9% 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.
67% of the jobs in San Jon pay over $3,333 a month
82 jobs are based in San Jon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in San Jon, 2013 → 2023: 110 → 82. 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 San Jon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From San Jon, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of San Jon workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 28 commuters (the 0% 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.
Where in the region San Jon works
About 43% 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.
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 San Jon: questions
What is the poverty rate in San Jon?
36.3%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from San Jon?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in San Jon work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tucumcari (19%, 21 mi), Logan (14%, 18 mi), Albuquerque (9%, 187 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around San Jon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from San Jon, from the people who make the trip.
More of San Jon
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.