White Sands is a tiny town located in the state of New Mexico. With a population of 926 people and just one neighborhood, White Sands is the 114th largest community in New Mexico. Much of the housing stock in White Sands was built relatively recently. The construction of new real estate can often be taken as an indication that the local White Sands economy is robust, and that jobs or other amenities are attracting an influx of new residents. This seems to be the case in White Sands, where the median household income is $88,750.00.
White Sands is a military town: the armed forces employs 12.08% of the workforce, making the military a major focus of life in the city. In the civilian sector, Public Service and Education are important in the local economy and are the town’s largest civilian employers, employing 57.53% and 14.16% of the civilian workforce respectively.
Also of interest is that White Sands has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
For a small town, there is also a high proportion of single, often educated, people living in White Sands. This is not typical for smaller communities in America, and adds a feeling of vibrancy to White Sands.
White Sands is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The town’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, White Sands’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the country, making it one of the safest places to raise a family.
Residents of the town have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 12.16 minutes getting to work every day.
White Sands is a small town, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
White Sands is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 45.16% of adults in White Sands have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher.
The per capita income in White Sands in 2022 was $29,225, which is upper middle income relative to New Mexico, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $116,900 for a family of four. However, White Sands contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
White Sands is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call White Sands home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of White Sands residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in White Sands include German, English, Irish, European, and Norwegian.
The most common language spoken in White Sands is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Korean.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
In addition, of particular note, 4.1% of the people in the neighborhood currently reside in a correction facility, held due to punishment for a crime.
Also, if you're looking for a great spot to raise a family, then look no further than the neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that the combination of good quality public schools, above-average safety from crime, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family homes, help make this neighborhood among the top 10.3% of family-friendly neighborhoods across the state of New Mexico. In addition, there are a high proportion of other families with school-aged children living here, making it easy for parents and their children to socialize and develop a sense of community support. In addition, families here highly value education, as is reflected by the strength of the local schools, in part due to the educational attainment of the parents here, who vote in support of the public schools. In addition to being an excellent choice for families with school-aged children, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for highly educated executives.
The government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 57.5% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 100.0% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Furthermore, the neighborhood stands out nationally for having a greater proportion of its residents active in the military than 99.5% of other U.S. neighborhoods. If you come here, you will notice military people active in their jobs, going to and from work, and in plain clothes out and about the neighborhood.
Regardless of the means by which residents commute, this neighborhood has a length of commute that is notable. Residents of the neighborhood have the pleasure of having one of the shortest commutes to work of any neighborhood in America. 87.8% of the residents have a commute time from home to work (one way) of less than fifteen minutes. This is a higher proportion of residents enjoying a short trip to work than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.9% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.
This neighborhood has wide open spaces, few people, and lots of space to stretch out. If you like locations that fit that description, you may like this neighborhood. Based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, with only 1 people per square mile living here, this neighborhood is less crowded than 99.4% of America.
In addition, 97.0% of the real estate in the neighborhood is occupied by renters, which is nearly the highest rate of renter occupancy of any neighborhood in America.
In the neighborhood, walking to work is a real option for many. In fact, NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research reveals walking to and from work is the chosen way to commute for 18.8% of residents here. This is a higher proportion of walking commuters than we found in 98.0% of American neighborhoods. Get ready to put on your walking shoes if you move here!
Also, if your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 3.9% of residents in the neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 97.1% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Swiss ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 4.5% of this neighborhood's residents have Swiss ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 3.2% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Korean at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 97.9% of the neighborhoods in America.
The freedom of moving to new places versus the comfort of home. How much and how often people move not only can create diverse and worldly neighborhoods, but simultaneously it can produce a loss of intimacy with one's surroundings and a lack of connectedness to one's neighbors. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research has identified this neighborhood as unique with regard to the transience of its populace. In the neighborhood, a greater proportion of the residents living here today did not live here five years ago than is found in 97.1% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in White Sands are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 67.6% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 57.5% of the working population is employed in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 50.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (32.2%), and 11.9% in the military.
Languages
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 86.6% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Korean.
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in White Sands, NM, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (20.7%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (18.7%), and residents who report Irish roots (9.4%), and some of the residents are also of Asian ancestry (5.7%), along with some Norwegian ancestry residents (5.3%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (87.8% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (58.0%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (18.8%) and 16.0% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.
