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Place dossier plate
SheetNM-PONDEROSA-NM · Ponderosa, NM 252 pop · income 19th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Ponderosa
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Ponderosa on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Villanueva · lowest
28,665
Villanueva · lowest
28,665 median HH income
42.6% of the leader · rank #1
Ponderosa · this city
49,583
Ponderosa · this city
49,583 median HH income
73.7% of the leader · rank #2
Standard City · near
49,583
Standard City · near
49,583 median HH income
73.7% of the leader · rank #3
Baldwin · near
49,583
Baldwin · near
49,583 median HH income
73.7% of the leader · rank #4
Snow Hill · near
49,583
Snow Hill · near
49,583 median HH income
73.7% of the leader · rank #5
Barnum · near
49,583
Barnum · near
49,583 median HH income
73.7% of the leader · rank #6
Bliss · highest
67,250
Bliss · highest
67,250 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Ponderosa on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 252.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Ponderosa places in the 19th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
19th
percentile, household income
39th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Ponderosa, NM
252 people live in Ponderosa, New Mexico - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $49,583 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 25.0%. The median resident age is 54.2 years. Educational attainment runs 12.5% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 49.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in New Mexico run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts New Mexico at 92.2 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,129 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $167 across New Mexico, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 58.9 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Ponderosa's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Ponderosa, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Ponderosa?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within New Mexico, the closest population matches are Nakaibito (251 residents, $31,250 income); Turley (250 residents, $46,900 income); Villanueva (250 residents, $28,665 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Coffee Springs, AL (252 residents); Bliss, ID (252 residents); Bryant, IL (252 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
What does the journey to work look like in Ponderosa?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 67.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Low income · poverty 25.0% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
92.2 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, New Mexico average
F
City profile score · Ponderosa, NM
29/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living B+
92.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income F
$49,583
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
12.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
25.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Ponderosa profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 77/100 (B+) · 92.2 index
Household income: 20/100 (F) · $49,583
Bachelor's+ share: 13/100 (F) · 12.5%
Poverty rate: 6/100 (F) · 25.0%
How does Ponderosa compare to other US cities?
Here's how Ponderosa stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income19% higher than other cities
Median rent39% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Ponderosa against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New Mexico only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New Mexico-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Ponderosa near the bottom of New Mexico's cities
Among the 409 New Mexico cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Ponderosa ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Ponderosa only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#198 of 324
39th percentile in New Mexico
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 409
0th percentile in New Mexico
Poverty Rate
#102 of 408
75th percentile in New Mexico
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#254 of 409
38th percentile in New Mexico
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within New Mexico only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
19th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$49,583Ponderosa, NM median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Ponderosa, NM median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Ponderosa, NM.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)12.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)25.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)49.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
252
Median Income
$49,583
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
54.2
Poverty Rate
25.0%
Labor force participation
49.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
12.5%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
67.5%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
25.0%
Other
7.5%
Based on 120 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New Mexico statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $167
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New Mexico at $167 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are New Mexico statewide averages, not a meter reading for Ponderosa. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New Mexico's BEA cost-of-living index is 92.2 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Ponderosa is $1,129/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New Mexico statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 58.9 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New Mexico statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Ponderosa sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Ponderosa compares to similar-size New Mexico cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.