About one in three of Waterflow’s working residents commute to Farmington
Jobs & income C−: better than 23% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability D−: more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns.
Household incomes here are lower than in 72% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 20 minutes each way (New Mexico 24, U.S. 26). Only 5% work in Waterflow; the top destination outside it is Farmington (36%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Waterflow, in brief
Waterflow and Farmington trade workers both ways
Farmington is the top workplace for Waterflow residents (36%) and also where the most people who work in Waterflow come from (43% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Waterflow is where the jobs are
Waterflow has 651 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Waterflow makes and builds things
42% of the jobs based in Waterflow are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Waterflow residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 12%. 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 385 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Waterflow’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Waterflow is better than 23% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Waterflow’s grade.
Unemployment (10.5%) is left out: Waterflow’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, Waterflow could be anywhere from D− to A−.
Where Waterflow’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Waterflow clocks in
36% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Waterflow fills up on a workday
On a workday 364 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 630 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Waterflow on a workday afternoon, 23% more than live here.
1.7 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.
Waterflow makes things: 42% of its jobs are in goods
651 jobs are based in Waterflow. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waterflow’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waterflow, 2013 → 2023: 537 → 651. 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 20 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 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waterflow workers work from home, vs 12% across New Mexico. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 306 commuters (the 18% 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 Waterflow commutes less than 16 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 22% 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 Waterflow start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waterflow is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Waterflow 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 373 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 Waterflow households have no vehicle (New Mexico 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waterflow’s commuters take a bus or train.
Waterflow is 2,410th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Waterflow, the top three, the last and three more from New Mexico.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 483 | Santa Ana Pueblo NM | 1,026 | $86K | 5.5% | 2.9% | 19% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 524 | Little Walnut Village NM | 1,445 | $125K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 751 | Sandia Knolls NM | 1,445 | $92K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,408 | Denmark ME | 1,253 | $64K | 8.9% | 2.7% | 5% | C− |
| 2,409 | Rodney Village DE | 1,331 | $44K | 16.2% | 3.3% | 1% | C− |
| 2,410 | Waterflow NM | 1,140 | $61K | 12.7% | 10.5% | 5% | C− |
| 2,411 | San Rafael NM | 1,039 | $83K | 13.4% | 11.2% | <1% | C− |
| 2,412 | Clay KY | 1,004 | $61K | 9.6% | 3.7% | 7% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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.
Waterflow and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Fruitland (4%). Darker towns draw more of Waterflow’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Waterflow workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterflow | – | C− | D− | 20 min | $61,429 |
| Nenahnezad | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Fruitland | 4% | — | — | 31 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Nenahnezad and Fruitland: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Waterflow: questions
What is the median household income in Waterflow?
$61,429 (±$34,592) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $64,059 across New Mexico and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waterflow?
12.7%, against 17.8% across New Mexico and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waterflow?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across New Mexico and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waterflow work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Farmington (36%, 16 mi), Albuquerque (8%, 153 mi), Shiprock (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waterflow walkable?
Waterflow is more walkable than 2% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waterflow 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 Waterflow, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waterflow
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.