Work & commute · Santa Fe

Work & commute in Santa Fe, NM

58% of Santa Fe’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Albuquerque (14%), Los Alamos (7%) and Rio Rancho (1%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

58%

20,354 of 35,091 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 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 14,737 Santa Fe residents head out of town to work, 20,354 work right here, and 27,291 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Santa Fe.

14,737live here, work elsewhere

20,354live and work here

27,291work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Santa Fe goes to work

Santa Fe (in town)right here

58%20,354

Albuquerque53.7 mi away

14%4,749

Los Alamos23.6 mi away

7%2,602

Rio Rancho48 mi away

1%428

Española24.1 mi away

1%378

La Cienega9.3 mi away

1%210

Las Cruces235.1 mi away

1%206

Tesuque6.9 mi away

1%198

Kirtland AFB53.5 mi away

0%163

Agua Fria1.9 mi away

0%161

Everywhere elseother towns and states

16%5,642

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

How far

How far Santa Fe commutes

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

65%

11%

15%

65%Under 10 mi

9%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Santa Fe is balanced between jobs and homes

1.36jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.36 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Santa Fe are

47,645 jobs are based in Santa Fe. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Santa Fe’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Santa Fe

47,645 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Santa Fe residents hold

35,091 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+10%

Jobs based in Santa Fe, 2013 → 2023: 43,503 → 47,645. 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.