AreaProfile

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Area Profile

562,218 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Albuquerque, in Bernalillo County.

62
Area Score
Bottom 48% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity124th of 139 published cities39
Growth96th of 134 published cities40
Housing affordabilityTop 24% of 150 published cities81
ClimateTop 47% of 149 published cities71
Physical resilienceTop 30% of 150 published cities69
Access58th of 149 published cities97
Economic stability88th of 150 published cities53
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 4.7% and the Opportunity signal places Albuquerque in the bottom 11%.

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

Its Area Score of 62 places Albuquerque in the top 52% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
562,218
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$68,317
Top 48% nationally
Density
3,002/sq mi
187.3 sq mi of land
Median age
38.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Bernalillo County
New Mexico
Metro area
Albuquerque, NM
Nearest major airport
ABQ
5 mi · Albuquerque Intl Sunport
Median home value
$291,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.7% is lower than 45% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 3.5% over the past year, to 275,581 employed residents.

39% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 81% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,677$68,317Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$629$40,469Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate15.5%Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.6 minBottom 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher39.2%Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment275,581Top 20%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-3.1%Bottom 7%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-3.5%Bottom 7%June 2026
Labor force289,140Top 19%June 2026
Labor force participation64.0%Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$64,480Bottom 34%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$48,060Bottom 28%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.5%Top 35%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.7%Top 45%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/067.62.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.7% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202468k56k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $68,317 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Albuquerque, NM
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides16,860$30,170
Fast Food and Counter Workers14,510$29,140
Retail Salespersons11,370$34,160
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive11,020$46,950
Registered Nurses10,290$96,040
Customer Service Representatives10,270$41,790

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,145 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.3 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
20.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,145
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$291,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.27Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate61.8%Bottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±929258,178Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$17$1,145Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,310$291,500Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.1%Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.6%Bottom 31%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
40/ 100
Ranks 96 of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2020 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 1% since 2020, reaching 560,326 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.

63% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 2.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
1,524
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.7
Bottom 34% nationally
Year over year
+18%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
62.6%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024565k560k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202120222023202420252k865
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+64%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 26°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 8.8 inches, including 7.9 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 ALBUQUERQUE INTL AP, 4.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND1.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation8.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall7.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low26°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing42°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

69 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, wildfire and drought.

EarthquakeModerate
WildfireModerate
DroughtModerate
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, lightning, inland flooding, heat wave, hail, strong wind, ice storm, cold wave, tornado, landslide, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

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

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Albuquerque Intl SunportABQ5 mi13,793 ft
Santa Fe RgnlSAF47 mi8,366 ft
Las Vegas MuniLVS93 mi8,199 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.

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Area Score
62
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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)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
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)

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.

ZIP codes in Albuquerque

6 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
8711470,117$84,27763
8712066,097$86,90764
8711157,085$90,29064
8711244,250$73,93763
8712342,252$64,35960
8711039,685$64,89260