Dunbar, Paul Laurence, Elementary School · Photo: Rcarrillo67 · CC BY-SA 4.0Vado’s household incomes are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D: better than 9% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #56 of 72 in New Mexico.
Walkability D: more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns · #71 of 73 in New Mexico.
Working residents average 24 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). Only 2% work in Vado; the top destination outside it is Las Cruces (38%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Vado
Vado and Las Cruces trade workers both ways
Las Cruces is the top workplace for Vado residents (38%) and also where the most people who work in Vado come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Vado is a place people come home to
There are 146 jobs based in Vado, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Vado than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Vado fell from 333 in 2013 to 146 in 2023, −56%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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 760 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Vado’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Vado is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #56 of 72 in New Mexico. Job access by car holds Vado’s grade up (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($37,411, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vado could be anywhere from D to B−.
38% of working residents work in Las Cruces
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Vado clocks in
38% of workers
16% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Vado quiets down on a workday
On a workday 747 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 133 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Vado on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.19 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.
Vado makes things: 40% of its jobs are in goods
146 jobs are based in Vado. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Vado’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vado, 2013 → 2023: 333 → 146. 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.
About 24 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 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vado workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,248 commuters (the 2% 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.
Half of Vado commutes less than 15 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 16% 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.
Most trips from Vado start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Vado is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns, #71 of 73 in New Mexico. Both inputs place Vado near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,278 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 0.0 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 Vado households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Vado’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Vado compares with U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Vado, 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 419 | Sandia Heights NM | 3,160 | $144K | 4.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 800 | Picacho Hills NM | 2,002 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,421 | Las Campanas NM | 2,119 | $205K | 8.9% | 2.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,403 | Center Township IN | 2,801 | $53K | 16.2% | 8.2% | 22% | D |
| 4,404 | Chesterfield NY | 2,402 | $65K | 18.5% | 9.7% | 9% | D |
| 4,405 | Vado NM | 2,895 | $37K | 25.7% | 8.2% | 2% | D |
| 4,406 | Orofino ID | 3,259 | $53K | 13.6% | 6.5% | 42% | D |
| 4,407 | Freer TX | 2,308 | $64K | 20.1% | 13.2% | 13% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | 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 Vado: questions
What is the median household income in Vado?
$37,411 (±$18,347) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vado?
25.7%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vado?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vado work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Las Cruces (38%, 16 mi), El Paso (16%, 23 mi), Anthony (8%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vado walkable?
Vado is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vado without a car?
0% 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 Vado, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vado
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.