Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 4.0Albuquerque draws about half of Valencia’s working residents
4% of workers work from home, against 12% across New Mexico. Jobs and income earn Valencia C−; getting around on foot earns it C. Measured by household income, Valencia is behind 81% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Valencia at work: what stands out
Nearly half of Valencia works in Albuquerque
374 working residents, 45%, have their main job in Albuquerque, 21 miles away. That’s 45 times as many as work in Valencia itself. The commute map ↓
Valencia is a place people come home to
There are 125 jobs based in Valencia, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Valencia has about 1,700 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Valencia workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 24 across New Mexico. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 829 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Valencia’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Valencia is better than 16% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Valencia’s grade up (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (29.4%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (7.8%) is left out: Valencia’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Valencia could be anywhere from D to B−.
Where Valencia goes to work
Where Valencia clocks in
45% of workers
14% of workers
4% 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.
A workday in Valencia: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 820 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 116 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Valencia on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
0.15 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.
A commute of about 30 minutes in Valencia
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Valencia workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 756 commuters (the 4% 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.
Inside Valencia’s 125 jobs
125 jobs are based in Valencia.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Valencia, 2013 → 2023: 186 → 125. 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 Valencia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Valencia commutes
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.
Valencia is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Valencia is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 788 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 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 53% 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). 1.2% of Valencia households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Valencia’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Valencia ranks: 4,012th of 4,995 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 376 | Sandia Heights NM | 3,160 | $144K | 4.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 721 | Picacho Hills NM | 2,002 | $121K | 5.6% | 1.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 917 | Tres Arroyos NM | 1,926 | $88K | 2.2% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,010 | Fairview OK | 2,632 | $55K | 19.0% | 3.6% | 33% | C− |
| 4,011 | Rutland NY | 2,952 | $72K | 17.5% | 7.9% | 3% | C− |
| 4,012 | Valencia NM | 2,406 | $55K | 29.4% | 7.8% | 1% | C− |
| 4,013 | Mount Morris MI | 3,086 | $49K | 22.7% | 8.3% | 3% | C− |
| 4,014 | Howard City MI | 1,923 | $55K | 23.9% | 1.8% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,995 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Valencia, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
The towns next door employ 14% of Valencia
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Los Lunas. Darker towns draw more of Valencia’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 Valencia: questions
What is the median household income in Valencia?
$55,170 (±$24,161) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Valencia?
29.4%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Valencia?
30 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Valencia work?
1% work in town.
Is Valencia walkable?
Valencia is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Valencia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Valencia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Valencia
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.