Photo: AllenS · Public domainFew U.S. towns have household incomes as low as University Park’s
Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. Poverty touches 30.2% of residents, against 17.8% across New Mexico. University Park grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets University Park apart on work
University Park fills up on a workday
University Park has 4,452 jobs, 13.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 6,900 people are in town, more than double the 2,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
56% 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 ↓
University Park and Las Cruces trade workers both ways
Las Cruces is the top workplace for University Park residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in University Park come from (54% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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 322 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: University Park’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, University Park is better than 12% of U.S. towns, #48 of 72 in New Mexico. Job access by car holds University Park’s grade up (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($30,156, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (14.0%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Household income is not adjusted: student households count in the median.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, University Park could be anywhere from D to C−.
Who works in University Park, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 304 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 4,434 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,900 people are in University Park on a workday afternoon, 148% more than live here.
13.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 University Park
About 56% 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.
Where University Park’s workforce comes from
Where University Park clocks in
16% of workers
15% of workers
12% 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.
In University Park, services account for most jobs
4,452 jobs are based in University Park.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in University Park, 2013 → 2023: 4,117 → 4,452. 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 University Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 12 minutes each way for University Park’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of University Park workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 992 commuters (the 15% 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: University Park
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, University Park is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #15 of 73 in New Mexico. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 53.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across New Mexico, on an EPA index of 6.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,173 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). 0.0% of University Park households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of University Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,131 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,800, University Park comes 4,409th 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 420 | Sandia Heights NM | 3,160 | $144K | 4.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 809 | Picacho Hills NM | 2,002 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,017 | Tres Arroyos NM | 1,926 | $88K | 2.2% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,407 | Lowville NY | 3,309 | $68K | 17.5% | 7.7% | 22% | D |
| 4,408 | Mount Jackson VA | 2,040 | $52K | 16.3% | 8.2% | 17% | D |
| 4,409 | University Park NM | 2,782 | $30K | 30.2% | 14.0% | 6% | D |
| 4,410 | Judson SC | 2,515 | $39K | 42.9% | 18.5% | 1% | D |
| 4,411 | Providence KY | 2,872 | $55K | 19.9% | 5.6% | 12% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,131 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of University Park, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
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 University Park: questions
What is the median household income in University Park?
$30,156 (±$13,586) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in University Park?
30.2%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from University Park?
12 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in University Park work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Las Cruces (16%, 4 mi), Albuquerque (15%, 196 mi), El Paso (12%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is University Park walkable?
University Park is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 53% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around University Park without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from University Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of University Park
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.