Work & commute · Hobbs

Work & commute in Hobbs, NM

56% of Hobbs’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Albuquerque (5%), Carlsbad (4%) and Lovington (3%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

56%

8,728 of 15,484 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,756 Hobbs residents head out of town to work, 8,728 work right here, and 11,699 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Hobbs.

6,756live here, work elsewhere

8,728live and work here

11,699work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Hobbs goes to work

Hobbs (in town)right here

56%8,728

Albuquerque258.5 mi away

5%705

Carlsbad66.9 mi away

4%606

Lovington18.4 mi away

3%465

North Hobbs3.7 mi away

2%288

Roswell90.8 mi away

2%281

Eunice20.3 mi away

2%249

Artesia73.8 mi away

1%184

Jal42.6 mi away

1%155

Las Cruces213.2 mi away

1%150

Everywhere elseother towns and states

24%3,673

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Hobbs commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

64%

26%

64%Under 10 mi

8%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

26%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Hobbs is balanced between jobs and homes

1.32jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Hobbs are

20,427 jobs are based in Hobbs. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Hobbs’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Hobbs

20,427 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)33%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Hobbs residents hold

15,484 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+4%

Jobs based in Hobbs, 2013 → 2023: 19,615 → 20,427. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.