Garcia Opera House · Photo: TDBurleigh · CC BY-SA 3.0Socorro’s household incomes are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income C−: better than 15% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #40 of 72 in New Mexico.
Walkability A: more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns · #5 of 73 in New Mexico.
Working residents average 11 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). About half work in Socorro; the top destination outside it is Albuquerque (18%, 74 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Socorro
Socorro’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Socorro is Albuquerque, 74 miles away as the crow flies. 18% of working residents (611) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Socorro are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 24 across New Mexico. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical New Mexico worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Socorro go to people who live here
Of the 3,310 jobs based in Socorro, 51% are held by Socorro residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
42% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Socorro workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Socorro’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 17% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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.
What’s behind Socorro’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Socorro is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #40 of 72 in New Mexico. Unemployment holds Socorro’s grade up (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (32.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Socorro could be anywhere from D to C.
Half of Socorro commutes less than 5 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 42% 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.
About 11 minutes each way, quicker than most of New Mexico
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Socorro workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,636 commuters (the 9% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,744 residents head out to work, 1,700 work right here, and 1,610 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 (0.96 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
3,310 jobs are based in Socorro. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Socorro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Socorro, 2013 → 2023: 3,495 → 3,310. 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.
18% of working residents work in Albuquerque
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Socorro clocks in
18% of workers
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Socorro is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Socorro is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #5 of 73 in New Mexico. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 14.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across New Mexico, on an EPA index of 8.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,901 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). 12.8% of Socorro households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Socorro’s commuters take a bus or train.
Socorro is 2,704th of 3,012 U.S. towns of 5,800 to 11,200 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Socorro, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,301 | Corrales NM | 8,484 | $102K | 7.0% | 6.3% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,766 | Santa Teresa NM | 6,041 | $63K | 23.9% | 1.9% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,804 | Edgewood NM | 6,157 | $85K | 8.3% | 5.1% | 10% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,702 | Trumann AR | 7,527 | $39K | 25.4% | 4.6% | 15% | C− |
| 2,703 | Batesville MS | 7,325 | $52K | 22.0% | 4.8% | 34% | C− |
| 2,704 | Socorro NM | 8,261 | $39K | 32.6% | 2.1% | 49% | C− |
| 2,705 | Ephrata WA | 8,834 | $70K | 20.8% | 6.1% | 29% | C− |
| 2,706 | Hartford City IN | 5,898 | $42K | 19.5% | 5.2% | 18% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,012 | 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.
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 Socorro: questions
What is the median household income in Socorro?
$39,375 (±$15,661) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Socorro?
32.6%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Socorro?
11 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Socorro work?
49% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albuquerque (18%, 74 mi), Lemitar (2%, 7 mi), Las Cruces (2%, 120 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Socorro walkable?
Socorro is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Socorro without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Socorro, from the people who make the trip.
More of Socorro
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.