City · Eddy County, New Mexico

Carlsbad, New Mexico

Carlsbad is a city in Eddy County, New Mexico, part of the Carlsbad-Artesia, NM metro area. It has 31,746 residents. Carlsbad, New Mexico has a quality-of-life score of 9 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,169 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within New Mexico it ranks #90 of 163 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent-burdened households (low), effective property tax rate (low) and comfortable days (high). It ranks worst on grocery stores (low), hospital quality rating (low) and high ozone days (high).

9Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,169 of 15,651 cities and towns
New Mexico: #90 of 163 in NM
Population: 31,746 (2020-2024)
Land area: 32 mi²
Density: 1,002.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 3512150

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety3#15,148/15,637
Economy35#10,121/15,631
Housing99#158/14,977
Health21#12,404/15,609
Healthcare6#14,635/15,650
Environment13#13,505/15,453
Education22#12,184/15,649
Infrastructure12#13,794/15,650
Community18#12,756/15,651
Leisure & amenities7#14,592/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Carlsbad, New Mexico ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Eddy County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Rent-burdened households · low32.8%
92/100New Mexico 50.2%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Effective property tax rate · low0.44%
91/100New Mexico 0.63%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Comfortable days · high32.6%
89/100New Mexico 31.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationEddy County value
New homes permitted · high9.7 /1k
87/100New Mexico 3.8 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Rent as share of income · low26.7%
87/100New Mexico 30.1%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Average weekly wage · high$1,529
84/100New Mexico $1,214United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEddy County value

Weaknesses

Grocery stores · low0.5 /10k
1/100New Mexico 1.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEddy County value
Hospital quality rating · low1.0
1/100New Mexico 2.5United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesEddy County value
High ozone days · high21 days
3/100New Mexico 4 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyEddy County value
Property crime rate · high2,547 /100k
4/100New Mexico 2,240 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureEddy County value
Flu vaccinations · low27.0%
4/100New Mexico 36.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEddy County value
Mammography screening · low33.0%
4/100New Mexico 38.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEddy County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
29,158 (2015-2019) → 31,746 (2020-2024)
+8.9%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
2.7 /1k (2021) → 9.7 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+254%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.0× (2015-2019) → 2.8× (2020-2024)
+35%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
High school diploma or higherWorsening
86.2% (2015-2019) → 81.2% (2020-2024)
−5 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
22.8% (2015-2019) → 26.7% (2020-2024)
+3.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
82.5% (2015-2019) → 85.3% (2020-2024)
+2.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Carlsbad, New Mexico improved on 0 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 12 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined2

Rent / income+3.9 points22.8% → 26.7%
Price / income+0.7×2.0× → 2.8×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Carlsbad, New Mexico between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	19.6 min2015-2019	22.3 min2020-2024	+2.7 min	Within the margin of error	22%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.8%2015-2019	19.2%2020-2024	+1.4 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Broadband subscriptions	82.5%2015-2019	85.3%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Child poverty rate	13.2%2015-2019	15.6%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	28%
Effective property tax rate	0.51%2015-2019	0.45%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	27%
High school diploma or higher	86.2%2015-2019	81.2%2020-2024	−5 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Home price to income ratio	2.0×2015-2019	2.8×2020-2024	+0.7×	Declined	35%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4162015-2019	0.4512020-2024	+0.035	Within the margin of error	24%
Median household income	$69,1932015-2019	$72,3062020-2024	+4.5%	Within the margin of error	11%
Poverty rate	14.0%2015-2019	13.8%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	46%
Rent as share of income	22.8%2015-2019	26.7%2020-2024	+3.9 points	Declined	28%
Rent-burdened households	31.8%2015-2019	32.8%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	52%
Unemployment rate	3.8%2015-2019	5.2%2020-2024	+1.4 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	11.1%2015-2019	13.2%2020-2024	+2.1 points	Within the margin of error	25%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Carlsbad, New Mexico five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Carlsbad, New Mexico in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Carlsbad, New Mexico itself moved −14.6 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

31,746 residents (±41)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

12,445 households (±607)

Carlsbad, New Mexico
New Mexico share

Under $25k18%2,186
$25k–50k20%2,500
$50k–75k13%1,603

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

12,445 households (±607)

Carlsbad, New Mexico
New Mexico share

Own70%8,742
Rent30%3,703

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

14,339 workers (±966)

Carlsbad, New Mexico
New Mexico share

Drive alone80%11,406
Carpool10%†1,475
Public transit0.3%†38

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Carlsbad-Artesia, NM

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Eddy County, the county holding most of Carlsbad's residents.

Eddy County has 1,551 employer establishments, 255 for every 10,000 residents (1.03× the US rate of 248; 1.21× New Mexico's), with 24,234 paid employees at an average annual pay of $71,823. The Census Bureau also counts 3,696 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,551; 3,696 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 255; US 248 · New Mexico 212
Paid employees: 24,234
Average annual pay: $71,823; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Eddy County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	101	16.6	0.91×About typical	1,874	$22,771	37
Specialty trade contractors	96	15.8	1.02×About typical	1,315	$77,616	236
Truck transportation	87	14.3	2.83×More than typical	1,029	$89,496	234
Ambulatory health care services	86	14.2	0.68×Fewer than typical	1,197	$58,467	87
Limited-service restaurants	46	7.6	0.94×About typical	978	$21,517	26
Lessors of real estate	44	7.2	0.59×Fewer than typical	115	$53,739	262
Traveler accommodation	41	6.7	3.74×More than typical	631	$24,531	24
Building equipment contractors	40	6.6	1.09×About typical	541	$81,658	47
Religious organizations	40	6.6	1.19×About typical	232	$23,698	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	38	6.3	1.24×About typical	166	$50,349	97
Full-service restaurants	37	6.1	0.79×Fewer than typical	730	$25,482	7
Gasoline stations	35	5.8	1.78×More than typical	486	$33,574	—

Rank places for an industry Open Eddy County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 60,753 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $746.1K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Carlsbad, New Mexico: $23.50 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $746.1K; +28% vs FY2025
Per resident: $23.50; US $1,994
Sole-source: 9.7%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

NAVARRO RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING, INC.$341.1K46%
CAST SPECIALTY TRANSPORTATION INC$164.8K22%
ORCOM, A DIVISION OF ORTEGA COMPANIES, INC$130.4K17%
CCS IVORY CLOUD JV LLC$37.8K5.1%
TUKNIK GOVERNMENT SERVICES LLC$26.2K3.5%

Spending by fiscal year

4.4MFY2017
5.8MFY2018
6.3MFY2019
6.1MFY2020
6.8MFY2021
6.5MFY2022
-419.4KFY2023
94.2KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$340.9K46%
Specialized freight trucking · 4842$164.8K22%
Utility system construction · 2371$130.4K17%
Information (NAICS 5178) · 5178$37.8K5.1%
Computer systems design and related services · 5415$26.4K3.5%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Carlsbad, New Mexico, so they do not add up across cities.

Carlsbad, New Mexico's figures are part of those of Eddy County, NM ($119.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.6% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Carlsbad is mostly in Eddy County.

See federal money in Eddy County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Carlsbad, New Mexico is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Eddy County23100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Carlsbad-Artesia, NM22

Other cities and towns in Eddy County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3512150

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends