Photo: Matthew.kowal · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Silver City have lower incomes than those in 97% of U.S. towns
23.7% of residents live below the poverty line (New Mexico 17.8%). For jobs and income Silver City is better than 2% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (A). About half stay in Silver City for work; outside it, Albuquerque is the main destination (5%, 186 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Silver City
Commutes from Silver City are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 24 across New Mexico. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Mexico worker. Time on the road ↓
Silver City gains people on a workday
About 11,000 people are in Silver City on a workday afternoon, 21% more than the 9,300 who live here: 3,800 come in to work and 1,900 head out. 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.
Jobs & income in Silver City: the grade in detail
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Silver City’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Silver City could be anywhere from D− to D.
From Silver City, about 15 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Silver City workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,949 commuters (the 13% 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.
Silver City fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,932 residents head out to work, 1,923 work right here, and 3,847 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Silver City on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.50 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 Silver City’s working residents head each day
Where Silver City clocks in
5% 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.
What work there is in Silver City: 5,770 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Silver City, 2013 → 2023: 5,681 → 5,770. 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 Silver City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Silver City, by distance
About 26% 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.
Silver City is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across New Mexico, on an EPA index of 8.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,398 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). 5.0% of Silver City households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Silver City’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Silver City compares with U.S. towns of 6,500 to 12,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,266 | Corrales NM | 8,484 | $102K | 7.0% | 6.3% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,148 | Bernalillo NM | 9,159 | $64K | 15.9% | 6.9% | 12% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,213 | North Valley NM | 10,455 | $61K | 17.6% | 8.5% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,830 | Huron CA | 7,394 | $53K | 30.4% | 12.4% | 2% | D− |
| 2,831 | Yazoo City MS | 9,867 | $28K | 46.7% | 12.7% | 29% | D− |
| 2,832 | Silver City NM | 9,284 | $39K | 23.7% | 13.1% | 50% | D− |
| 2,833 | Monticello AR | 8,269 | $27K | 30.1% | 9.6% | 46% | D− |
| 2,834 | Roxboro NC | 8,380 | $37K | 33.3% | 13.5% | 18% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,841 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Silver City, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
How Silver City compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Silver City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver City | – | D− | A | 15 min | $38,711 |
| Little Walnut Village | under 1% | B+ | C− | 17 min | $125,175 |
| Rosedale | under 1% | — | — | 19 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Rosedale: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Silver City’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 Silver City: questions
What is the median household income in Silver City?
$38,711 (±$7,855) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Silver City?
23.7%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Silver City?
15 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Silver City work?
50% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albuquerque (5%, 186 mi), Las Cruces (5%, 92 mi), Bayard (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Silver City walkable?
Silver City is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Silver City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Silver City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Silver City
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.