Tularosa Original Townsite District · Photo: AllenS · Public domainUnemployment in Tularosa (20.2%) is among the highest in the country
Jobs & income D−: better than 4% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #64 of 72 in New Mexico.
Walkability C−: more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns · #61 of 73 in New Mexico.
Household incomes here are lower than in 85% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 23 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). About one in ten work in Tularosa; the top destination outside it is Alamogordo (27%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Tularosa
Tularosa and Alamogordo trade workers both ways
Alamogordo is the top workplace for Tularosa residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Tularosa come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 Tularosa workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Tularosa’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 14% 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; with 942 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Tularosa’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tularosa is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #64 of 72 in New Mexico. The poverty rate holds Tularosa’s grade up (15.4%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (20.2%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tularosa could be anywhere from D− to D.
27% of working residents work in Alamogordo
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Tularosa clocks in
27% of workers
8% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Tularosa commutes less than 21 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 35% 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.
What the 430 jobs in Tularosa are
430 jobs are based in Tularosa. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Tularosa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tularosa, 2013 → 2023: 438 → 430. 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.
Tularosa quiets down on a workday
On a workday 842 residents head out to work, 100 work right here, and 330 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Tularosa on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.46 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.
About 23 minutes each way, about the NM average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tularosa workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 734 commuters (the 8% 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.
Most trips from Tularosa start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tularosa is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns, #61 of 73 in New Mexico. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% of 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 801 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). 2.4% of Tularosa households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tularosa’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Tularosa compares with U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Tularosa, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 382 | Sandia Heights NM | 3,160 | $144K | 4.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 745 | Picacho Hills NM | 2,002 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 940 | Tres Arroyos NM | 1,926 | $88K | 2.2% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,560 | Abbeville AL | 2,378 | $32K | 21.7% | 6.4% | 22% | D− |
| 4,561 | Union MS | 2,007 | $45K | 31.7% | 8.3% | 11% | D− |
| 4,562 | Tularosa NM | 2,662 | $52K | 15.4% | 20.2% | 11% | D− |
| 4,563 | Olton TX | 1,913 | $46K | 18.4% | 0.0% | 26% | D− |
| 4,564 | Altona NY | 2,522 | $51K | 19.2% | 8.3% | 2% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Tularosa: questions
What is the median household income in Tularosa?
$52,375 (±$14,855) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tularosa?
15.4%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tularosa?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tularosa work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Alamogordo (27%, 14 mi), Las Cruces (8%, 68 mi), Albuquerque (5%, 145 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tularosa walkable?
Tularosa is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tularosa without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tularosa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tularosa
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.