Household incomes in Sandia Heights are higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
Sandia Heights grades A for jobs and income and D for walkability. 4.7% of residents live below the poverty line, where New Mexico as a whole has 17.8%. For 36% of workers, the job is at home (New Mexico 12%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Sandia Heights
Sandia Heights and Albuquerque trade workers both ways
Albuquerque is the top workplace for Sandia Heights residents (66%) and also where the most people who work in Sandia Heights come from (63% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Sandia Heights
36% of Sandia Heights workers work from home, against 12% across New Mexico. Time on the road ↓
Sandia Heights is a place people come home to
There are 205 jobs based in Sandia Heights, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sandia Heights has about 2,200 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Sandia Heights’ working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 27 minutes, longer than the New Mexico average of 24. Time on the road ↓
Most Sandia Heights residents work close to home
67% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 5% work more than 50 miles away. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Sandia Heights
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sandia Heights is better than 89% of U.S. towns, #1 of 72 in New Mexico. Household income is its strongest input ($143,646, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sandia Heights could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
66% of working residents work in Albuquerque
Where Sandia Heights clocks in
66% of workers
14% of workers
3% 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.
About 27 minutes each way for Sandia Heights’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sandia Heights workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 736 commuters (the 36% 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.
How many people are in Sandia Heights by day
On a workday 1,189 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 193 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Sandia Heights on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.17 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.
How far it is to work from Sandia Heights
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.
Sandia Heights is a services town
205 jobs are based in Sandia Heights.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sandia Heights, 2013 → 2023: 267 → 205. 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 Sandia Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Sandia Heights, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sandia Heights is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns, #67 of 73 in New Mexico. Both inputs place Sandia Heights near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,145 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). 2.2% of Sandia Heights households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sandia Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300, Sandia Heights ranks 426th of 4,698 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 424 | Barnesville MN | 2,767 | $98K | 1.8% | 0.9% | 13% | A |
| 425 | Oshkosh WI | 2,436 | $103K | 5.6% | 2.2% | 1% | A |
| 426 | Sandia Heights NM | 3,160 | $144K | 4.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| 427 | East Basin UT | 4,002 | $146K | 7.5% | 0.6% | 4% | A |
| 428 | Lake Orion MI | 2,900 | $101K | 9.2% | 0.7% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 749 | Placitas NM | 4,223 | $110K | 3.2% | 3.5% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,446 | El Cerro NM | 2,923 | $106K | 5.9% | 4.5% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,564 | Kirtland AFB NM | 3,413 | $85K | 12.9% | 6.9% | 13% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Sandia Heights, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
The towns next door employ 66% of Sandia Heights
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sandia Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandia Heights | – | A | D | 27 min | $143,646 |
| Albuquerque | 66% | C+ | A | 22 min | $68,317 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Albuquerque. Darker towns draw more of Sandia Heights’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 Sandia Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Sandia Heights?
$143,646 (±$19,520) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sandia Heights?
4.7%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sandia Heights?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 36% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sandia Heights work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albuquerque (66%, 10 mi), Kirtland AFB (14%, 10 mi), Santa Fe (3%, 44 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sandia Heights walkable?
Sandia Heights is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sandia Heights without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sandia Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sandia Heights
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.