The city is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Ruidoso Downs has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Ruidoso Downs a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Ruidoso Downs spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 17.01 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.
As is often the case in a small city, Ruidoso Downs doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The percentage of people in Ruidoso Downs with college degrees is quite a bit lower than the national average for cities and towns of 21.84%: just 10.18% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Ruidoso Downs in 2022 was $14,061, which is low income relative to New Mexico and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $56,244 for a family of four. Ruidoso Downs also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 36.24% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Ruidoso Downs is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Ruidoso Downs home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Ruidoso Downs, accounting for 49.91% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Ruidoso Downs residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Ruidoso Downs include Irish, German, English, British, and Yugoslavian.
The most common language spoken in Ruidoso Downs is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
