Work & commute · Ruidoso Downs

Work & commute in Ruidoso Downs, NM

Most working residents leave Ruidoso Downs for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Ruidoso (35%), Albuquerque (8%) and Roswell (5%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

93 of 781 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

13 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 688 Ruidoso Downs residents head out of town to work, 93 work right here, and 655 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ruidoso Downs.

688live here, work elsewhere

93live and work here

655work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ruidoso Downs goes to work

Ruidoso4.3 mi away

35%270

Ruidoso Downs (in town)right here

12%93

Albuquerque136.4 mi away

8%60

Roswell61.7 mi away

5%36

Capitan14.4 mi away

2%13

Clovis157.6 mi away

2%12

Portales141.4 mi away

1%8

Carrizozo25.8 mi away

1%8

Artesia75.6 mi away

1%8

Rio Rancho148.9 mi away

1%8

Everywhere elseother towns and states

34%265

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

How far

How far Ruidoso Downs commutes

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

60%

33%

60%Under 10 mi

5%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

33%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ruidoso Downs is balanced between jobs and homes

0.96jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.96 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Ruidoso Downs are

748 jobs are based in Ruidoso Downs. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ruidoso Downs’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Ruidoso Downs

748 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities49%

Services (health, schools, offices…)46%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month54%

Over $3,333 a month28%

Jobs Ruidoso Downs residents hold

781 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month44%

Over $3,333 a month36%

+68%

Jobs based in Ruidoso Downs, 2013 → 2023: 445 → 748. 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.