Census-designated place · Eddy County, New Mexico

La Huerta, New Mexico

La Huerta is a census-designated place in Eddy County, New Mexico, part of the Carlsbad-Artesia, NM metro area. It has 1,288 residents. La Huerta, New Mexico has a quality-of-life score of 25 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,767 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within New Mexico it ranks #47 of 163 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent as share of income (low), broadband subscriptions (high) and unemployment rate (low). It ranks worst on grocery stores (low), hospital quality rating (low) and high ozone days (high).

25Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,767 of 15,651 cities and towns
New Mexico: #47 of 163 in NM
Population: 1,288 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 849.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 3537420

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 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
Economy57#6,784/15,631
Housing69#4,665/14,977
Health38#9,604/15,609
Healthcare13#13,671/15,650
Environment13#13,505/15,453
Education48#8,194/15,649
Infrastructure77#3,568/15,650
Community24#11,956/15,651
Leisure & amenities7#14,592/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where La Huerta, 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 as share of income · low9.0%
100/100New Mexico 30.1%United States 30.6%2017-2021U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071At most this value: the publisher's bottom bracket is open-ended
Broadband subscriptions · high100.0%
99/100New Mexico 86.5%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Unemployment rate · low0.0%
98/100New Mexico 4.2%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Comfortable days · high32.6%
89/100New Mexico 31.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationEddy County value
Average weekly wage · high$1,529
84/100New Mexico $1,214United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEddy County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.56%
83/100New Mexico 0.63%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090

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.

PopulationFalling
1,608 (2015-2019) → 1,288 (2020-2024)
−20%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
28.4% (2015-2019) → 100.0% (2019-2023)
+72 pts4 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 50.4%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
16.8% (2015-2019) → 33.8% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Child poverty rateWorsening
0.0% (2015-2019) → 12.1% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
89.5% (2015-2019) → 100.0% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Public transit commutersWorsening
6.8% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−6.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%

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, La Huerta, New Mexico improved on 1 of 8 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 7 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.

Improved1

Bachelor's++17 points16.8% → 33.8%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 8 measures

Change of every measure of La Huerta, New Mexico between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.8%2015-2019	33.8%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	98%
Broadband subscriptions	89.5%2015-2019	100.0%2020-2024	+11 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Effective property tax rate	0.77%2015-2019	0.56%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	62%
High school diploma or higher	93.8%2015-2019	91.0%2020-2024	−2.8 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Home price to income ratio	3.5×2015-2019	4.4×2020-2024	+0.9×	Within the margin of error	28%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4642015-2019	0.4312020-2024	−0.034	Within the margin of error	76%
Median household income	$84,6322015-2019	$78,8612020-2024	−6.8%	Within the margin of error	4%
Unemployment rate	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	49%

“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 La Huerta, New Mexico five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of La Huerta, 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, La Huerta, New Mexico itself moved +4.8 points in standing on average over the same 7 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

1,288 residents (±576)

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

575 households (±242)

La Huerta, New Mexico
New Mexico share

Under $25k20%†113
$25k–50k15%†89
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

575 households (±242)

La Huerta, New Mexico
New Mexico share

Own100%†575
Rent0.0%0

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Rent (−20.2 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

569 workers (±317)

La Huerta, New Mexico
New Mexico share

Drive alone93%†528
Carpool7.2%†41
Public transit

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 La Huerta'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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: La Huerta 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.

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

House

Senate

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
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/3537420

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends