Artesia, New Mexico

Area Profile

12,576 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Artesia, in Eddy County.

57out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 42% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 45% of 4,199 cities measured58
SchoolsTop 12% of 4,162 cities measured80
GrowthTop 17% of 4,224 cities measured69
Housing affordabilityTop 31% of 4,218 cities measured73
Climate3,759th of 4,225 cities measured59
Physical resilience4,063rd of 4,226 cities measured9
Access3,071st of 4,226 cities measured84
Economic stability3,505th of 4,226 cities measured37
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.2% and median household income $74,915, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Eddy County, NM, which contains Artesia, rather than for Artesia alone.

Public schools test above most of the state: 30% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 12% of published profiles for schools.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 55 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, against 18 the year before. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
12,576
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$74,915
Top 39% nationally
Density
1,105/sq mi
11.4 sq mi of land
Median age
30.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
New Mexico
Nearest major airport
ROW
32 mi · Roswell Air Center
Median home value
$229,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Eddy County, NM, which contains Artesia, is 4.2%, lower than in 55% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Eddy County, NM, which contains Artesia, fell 1.3% over the past year, to 31,618 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsEddy County, NM’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$63,39433rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftEddy County, NM’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$81,76767th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$19,0972024 ACS 5-Year$74,915Top 39%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,5862024 ACS 5-Year$33,397Bottom 49%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year16.3%Bottom 31%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±3.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.9 minTop 17%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year19.9%Bottom 48%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year76.9%49th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentEddy County, NM’s figureJuly 202631,618Bottom 36%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Eddy County, NM’s figureJuly 2026+7.6%Top 2%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Eddy County, NM’s figureJuly 2026−1.3%Bottom 39%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceEddy County, NM’s figureJuly 202632,99536th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year77.4%Bottom 47%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Eddy County, NM’s figureJuly 2026+0.3%Bottom 26%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateEddy County, NM’s figureJuly 20264.2%Top 45%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year8.4%54th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202478k62k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $74,915 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Eddy County, NM, which contains this city.

30% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 41% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.8 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.8
across all schools here
Math proficiency
30.2%
Top 14% in New Mexico
Reading proficiency
41.0%
Top 18% in New Mexico
All 9 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Artesia HighARTESIA80614.918%47%
Artesia Zia IntermediateARTESIA55015.327%45%
Artesia Park Junior HighARTESIA53913.122%41%
Yeso ElementaryARTESIA48218.547%41%
Yucca ElementaryARTESIA35418.635%33%
Grand Heights Early ChildhoodARTESIA34813.4——
Hermosa ElementaryARTESIA31116.435%26%
Roselawn ElementaryARTESIA1719.552%42%
Central ElementaryARTESIA14913.537%42%

100.0% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against New Mexico’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of New Mexico is up 37% over five years, and up 1.3% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,138 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.50% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,188, below the $1,288 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,188 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $47,500 a year, about 63% of the median household income here of $74,915.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,288 a month.

A median home at $229,400 costs 2.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $115,950, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
29.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,188
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,288
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$229,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Artesia’s median household income of $74,915, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of New Mexico’s figure2026 Q2+1.3%26th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of New Mexico’s figure2026 Q2+36.8%35th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of New Mexico’s figure2026 Q2+75.6%21st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.0Top 32%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year64.6%28th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3902024 ACS 5-Year5,38889th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,084Top 29%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,619Top 24%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,188Top 20%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$4082024 ACS 5-Year$1,288Bottom 28%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$15,8682024 ACS 5-Year$229,40060th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$3352024 ACS 5-Year$1,13828th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$11,6122024 ACS 5-Year$115,950Top 17%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.15%2024 ACS 5-Year0.50%11th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year29.7%Bottom 42%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±482024 ACS 5-Year2976th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%57th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year11.5%69th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2932024 ACS 5-Year65192nd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

69/ 100
Top 17% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 3% since 2020, to 12,550 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 21 units authorized in 2025, 28% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 55 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Eddy County, which contains Artesia, gained about 0.2% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $63,394, below the $81,767 of households that moved out.

At 4.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
55
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.4
Top 32% nationally
Year over year
+206%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202413k12k
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. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
71%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$63,394
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$81,767
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. El Paso County, TX 236 people · 8.6% of arrivals
  2. Chaves County, NM 197 people · 7.2% of arrivals
  3. Doña Ana County, NM 117 people · 4.2% of arrivals
  4. Bernalillo County, NM 80 people · 2.9% of arrivals
  5. Lea County, NM 78 people · 2.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Chaves County, NM 237 people · 9.0% of departures
  2. Midland County, TX 126 people · 4.8% of departures
  3. Lubbock County, TX 119 people · 4.5% of departures
  4. El Paso County, TX 113 people · 4.3% of departures
  5. Bernalillo County, NM 99 people · 3.7% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Eddy County, NM. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420255021
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−58%).

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.

Air quality measures a median index of 49, in the Good band, and about 36 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

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, 31.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND1.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year1002024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals11.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals9.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals97°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year362024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year492024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals41°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
49
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
100
90th percentile index
Days above 100
36
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

9 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, strong wind and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 81% of it. Strong wind is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Winter weatherModerate
Inland floodingHigh
WildfireModerate
DroughtModerate
Ice stormModerate
Heat waveModerate
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, lightning, hail, cold wave, tornado, earthquake, hurricane, landslide, volcanic activity, tsunami, coastal flooding.

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.

Violent crime
393
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,165
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Artesia's police department reported 393 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,165.

Eddy County has a modeled homicide rate of about 7.6 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 18.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 33.2 per 100,000 residents in Eddy County.

Homicide
7.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
18.2
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
33.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.6
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Artesia’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Artesia (Eddy County) rather than Artesia itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Roswell Air Center at 32 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±10%2024 ACS 5-Year88.7%Bottom 45%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle32 miBottom 26%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year9.3%Bottom 41%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Roswell Air CenterROW32 mi13,000 ft
Lea County RgnlHOB71 mi8,000 ft
Sierra Blanca RgnlSRR77 mi8,120 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
57
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—

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Other cities in Carlsbad-Artesia, NM

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
CarlsbadEddy County31,74656Carlsbad vs Artesia

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Artesia side by side with a similar place.

Artesia vs CarlsbadArtesia vs Tomball

Moving to Artesia from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Artesia

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Artesia with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Artesia closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
8821018,542$79,632$223,800—