AreaProfile

Roswell, NM

Metro Area Profile

64,217 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Roswell, NM metropolitan area.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: opportunity. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Growth723rd of 821 published metros23
Housing affordabilityTop 44% of 822 published metros96
Climate649th of 822 published metros59
Physical resilience811th of 822 published metros7
AccessTop 7% of 822 published metros98
Economic stability728th of 822 published metros22
The quick read

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, drought and heat wave.

A major airport is 5 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
64,217
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$52,938
Bottom 11% nationally
Density
11/sq mi
6067.2 sq mi of land
Median age
37.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Roswell, NM
Nearest major airport
ROW
5 mi · Roswell Air Center
Median home value
$156,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Median household income of $52,938 is below 89% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,795$52,938Bottom 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,619$28,881Bottom 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate24.3%Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute20.7 minBottom 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher17.9%Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Labor force participation55.8%Bottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $867 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.0 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
19.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$867
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$156,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.95Bottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate71.3%Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5026,864Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$61$867Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,252$156,400Bottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income19.7%Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.7%Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
23/ 100
Ranks 723 of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 2% since 2020, reaching 63,697 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
72
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.1
Bottom 21% nationally
Year over year
−5%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202465k64k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 97°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 11.6 inches, including 9.6 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ROSWELL IND AIR PK, 4.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND1.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation11.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall9.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high97°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing41°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

7 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, drought and heat wave.

DroughtElevated
WildfireModerate
Inland floodingHigh
Heat waveElevated
Ice stormModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, winter weather, lightning, hail, volcanic activity, hurricane, cold wave, earthquake, landslide, tornado, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 5 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Roswell Air CenterROW5 mi13,000 ft
Sierra Blanca RgnlSRR62 mi8,120 ft
Lea County RgnlHOB86 mi8,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

Cities in this metro