Work & commute · Los Alamos

Work & commute in Los Alamos, NM

77% of Los Alamos’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Albuquerque (8%), Santa Fe (4%) and Española (1%). Half commute less than 2 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

77%

5,570 of 7,205 working residents

Typical commute

2 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

12 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,635 Los Alamos residents head out of town to work, 5,570 work right here, and 14,134 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Los Alamos.

1,635live here, work elsewhere

5,570live and work here

14,134work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Los Alamos goes to work

Los Alamos (in town)right here

77%5,570

Albuquerque58.1 mi away

8%579

Santa Fe23.6 mi away

4%254

Española14.5 mi away

1%61

White Rock7.5 mi away

1%57

Rio Rancho47.9 mi away

0%30

Kirtland AFB60.4 mi away

0%30

Las Cruces248.1 mi away

0%27

Taos52.2 mi away

0%19

Cuba38.8 mi away

0%12

Everywhere elseother towns and states

8%566

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

How far

How far Los Alamos commutes

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

79%

14%

79%Under 10 mi

4%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Los Alamos is a job hub

2.73jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Los Alamos are

19,704 jobs are based in Los Alamos. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Los Alamos’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Los Alamos

19,704 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)2%

Trade, transport & utilities2%

Services (health, schools, offices…)96%

$1,250 a month or less5%

$1,251–$3,333 a month8%

Over $3,333 a month87%

Jobs Los Alamos residents hold

7,205 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities5%

Services (health, schools, offices…)92%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month13%

Over $3,333 a month78%

+44%

Jobs based in Los Alamos, 2013 → 2023: 13,650 → 19,704. 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.