Photo: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK · CC BY 2.0Unemployment in Santa Fe (5.1%) is higher than in 63% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Santa Fe is better than 41% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (A). Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 5.2 in Albuquerque. More than half work in Santa Fe itself; outside it, Albuquerque draws the most (14%, 54 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Santa Fe in brief
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Santa Fe
Job access by car holds Santa Fe’s grade up (ahead of 56% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.9%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Santa Fe could be anywhere from C to B−.
The commute from Santa Fe, by distance
About 15% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Santa Fe
On a workday 14,737 residents head out to work, 20,354 work right here, and 27,291 people come in from elsewhere.
About 102,000 people are in Santa Fe on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.36 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.
The places Santa Fe commutes to
Where Santa Fe clocks in
14% of workers
7% of workers
1% 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.
What the 47,645 jobs in Santa Fe are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Santa Fe, 2013 → 2023: 43,503 → 47,645. 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 Santa Fe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 21 minutes each way for Santa Fe’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Santa Fe workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 36,096 commuters (the 17% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Santa Fe
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 43,659 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 72% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 10% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 81% 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). 4.5% of Santa Fe households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Santa Fe’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Santa Fe is 385th among 497 U.S. towns of 63,000 to 121,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 245 | Rio Rancho NM | 114,419 | $90K | 7.4% | 4.6% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 383 | Arden-Arcade CA | 94,994 | $77K | 16.9% | 8.6% | 9% | C+ |
| 384 | Melbourne FL | 87,097 | $67K | 15.8% | 4.6% | 28% | C+ |
| 385 | Santa Fe NM | 89,837 | $73K | 12.9% | 5.1% | 58% | C+ |
| 386 | Knight Township IN | 68,332 | $58K | 16.4% | 4.1% | 27% | C+ |
| 387 | Sioux City IA | 86,356 | $69K | 15.3% | 4.5% | 54% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 487 | Las Cruces NM | 116,978 | $55K | 22.6% | 7.0% | 60% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 497 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Santa Fe, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
Next door to Santa Fe
The biggest share goes to La Cienega (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Santa Fe workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Fe | – | C+ | A | 21 min | $73,482 |
| La Cienega | 1% | B | C+ | 24 min | $85,250 |
| Tres Arroyos | under 1% | A− | C | 32 min | $87,841 |
| Tano Road | under 1% | B− | B | 35 min | $183,162 |
| Santa Fe Foothills | under 1% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Conejo | under 1% | — | — | 15 min | — |
| Tesuque | 1% | C− | B | 15 min | $55,865 |
| Hyde Park | under 1% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Valle Vista | under 1% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Santa Fe Foothills, Conejo, Hyde Park and Valle Vista: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Santa Fe’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 Santa Fe: questions
What is the median household income in Santa Fe?
$73,482 (±$3,581) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Santa Fe?
12.9%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Santa Fe?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Santa Fe work?
58% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albuquerque (14%, 54 mi), Los Alamos (7%, 24 mi), Rio Rancho (1%, 48 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Santa Fe walkable?
Santa Fe is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.2 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Santa Fe without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 10% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Santa Fe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Santa Fe
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.