Thoreau is a very small town located in the state of New Mexico. With a population of 2,367 people and just one neighborhood, Thoreau is the 67th largest community in New Mexico.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Thoreau is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Thoreau is a town of sales and office workers, service providers, and construction workers and builders. There are especially a lot of people living in Thoreau who work in office and administrative support (19.26%), sales jobs (8.97%), and healthcare (7.50%).
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 17.21% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Thoreau has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Thoreau has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Thoreau than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Thoreau may be for you.
In Thoreau, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 36.30 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.
As is often the case in a small town, Thoreau doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
In terms of college education, Thoreau ranks among the least educated cities in the nation, as only 5.74% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Thoreau in 2022 was $15,845, which is low income relative to New Mexico and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $63,380 for a family of four. However, Thoreau contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Thoreau also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 49.85% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Thoreau is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Thoreau home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Thoreau residents report their race to be Native American, followed by White. Thoreau also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 31.94% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Thoreau include Danish, African, German, Irish, and Yugoslavian.
The most common language spoken in Thoreau is English. Other important languages spoken here include Navajo and Native American languages.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Thoreau, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
The neighborhood stands out for having an average per capita income lower than 95.2% of the neighborhoods in the United States. Also of note, 72.3% of the children in this area live in poverty; an extraordinarily high percentage compared to other neighborhoods in the nation. In a nation where approximately one in four children grows up in poverty, this neighborhood stands out for the depth of the problem manifested here.
In addition, the neighborhood is unique for having just 6.9% of adults here having earned a bachelor's degree. This is a lower rate of college graduates than NeighborhoodScout found in 95.3% of America's neighborhoods.
The real estate in this neighborhood consists of more mobile homes than 98.1% of all neighborhoods in America, with 42.5% of the occupied housing here being classified as mobile homes. So if you are looking for a mobile home, or you like the look and feel of mobile home parks, this neighborhood might have the setting you desire.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Native American ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 67.1% of this neighborhood's residents have Native American ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 54.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Native American languages at home. This is a higher percentage than 99.9% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Thoreau are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 95.2% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 72.3% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 98.8% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 32.7% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 23.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (22.5%), and 21.8% in executive, management, and professional occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is Native American languages, spoken by 54.6% of households. Some people also speak English (51.9%).
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the neighborhood in Thoreau, NM, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Native American (67.1%). There are also a number of people of Mexican ancestry (28.7%), and residents who report Danish roots (1.5%).
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (35.8% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.
Here most residents (73.7%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (5.4%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.