Few U.S. towns have unemployment as high as San Ysidro’s 15.8%
Hardly any work in San Ysidro; the top destination outside it is Las Cruces (59%, 2 miles). San Ysidro grades C+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. For 1% of workers, the job is at home, where New Mexico as a whole has 12%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in San Ysidro, in brief
More than half of San Ysidro works in Las Cruces
471 working residents, 59%, have their main job in Las Cruces, 2.5 miles away. That’s 59 times as many as work in San Ysidro itself. The commute map ↓
Most San Ysidro residents work close to home
76% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
San Ysidro is a place people come home to
There are 243 jobs based in San Ysidro, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday San Ysidro has about 1,600 people in it, 26% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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 803 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind San Ysidro’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, San Ysidro is better than 39% of U.S. towns. Household income holds San Ysidro’s grade up ($89,473, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, San Ysidro could be anywhere from D to A−.
Where San Ysidro goes to work
Where San Ysidro clocks in
59% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from San Ysidro
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.
The workday shuffle in and out of San Ysidro
On a workday 795 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 235 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in San Ysidro on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
0.30 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Factories, building and farms: 39% of the jobs in San Ysidro
243 jobs are based in San Ysidro.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in San Ysidro, 2013 → 2023: 206 → 243. 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 Ysidro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long San Ysidro spends getting to work: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of San Ysidro workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,114 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.
For most of San Ysidro, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, San Ysidro is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,125 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.9% of San Ysidro households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of San Ysidro’s commuters take a bus or train.
San Ysidro next to U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900: 2,878th of 5,404 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 718 | Picacho Hills NM | 2,002 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 911 | Tres Arroyos NM | 1,926 | $88K | 2.2% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,203 | Mesilla NM | 1,818 | $75K | 4.5% | 6.8% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,876 | Etna Township IN | 1,504 | $59K | 8.9% | 0.0% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,877 | Lower Mahanoy Township PA | 1,603 | $70K | 5.9% | 0.4% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,878 | San Ysidro NM | 2,118 | $89K | 8.6% | 15.8% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,879 | Ashford AL | 2,470 | $65K | 15.0% | 3.0% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,880 | Lincoln AR | 2,370 | $68K | 12.4% | 3.1% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | 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 San Ysidro, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
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 Ysidro: questions
What is the median household income in San Ysidro?
$89,473 (±$88,514) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in San Ysidro?
8.6%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from San Ysidro?
18 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 San Ysidro work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Las Cruces (59%, 2 mi), University Park (5%, 7 mi), Albuquerque (4%, 190 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is San Ysidro walkable?
San Ysidro is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around San Ysidro without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from San Ysidro, from the people who make the trip.
More of San Ysidro
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.