Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetNM-UNIVERSITY-PARK-NM · University Park, NM 2,699 pop · income 2nd 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 University Park
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest University Park on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
La Luisa comu… · lowest
20,513
La Luisa comu… · lowest
20,513 median HH income
23.4% of the leader · rank #1
Quinwood · near
25,417
Quinwood · near
25,417 median HH income
28.9% of the leader · rank #2
Añasco zona u… · near
25,425
Añasco zona u… · near
25,425 median HH income
28.9% of the leader · rank #3
University Pa… · this city
25,433
University Pa… · this city
25,433 median HH income
29.0% of the leader · rank #4
Sacramento · near
25,455
Sacramento · near
25,455 median HH income
29.0% of the leader · rank #5
Georgiana · near
25,469
Georgiana · near
25,469 median HH income
29.0% of the leader · rank #6
Cohasset · highest
87,833
Cohasset · highest
87,833 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 University Park 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: 2,699.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, University Park lands in the 2nd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
2nd
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: University Park, NM
University Park is a small town in New Mexico, home to 2,699 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. University Park households earn a median of $25,433 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 34.8%. The median resident age is 19.6 years. 60.2% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 42.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in New Mexico run below the national norm: the state registers 92.2 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,129 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in New Mexico run around $167, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 58.9 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of University Park'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For University Park, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in University Park?
Walking is the largest reported mode at 50.3%. 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. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Which cities make useful reference points for University Park?
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 Clayton (2,680 residents, $40,192 income); Chimayo (2,726 residents, $52,305 income); Ruidoso Downs (2,629 residents, $31,413 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Fairview, OK (2,699 residents); East Lansdowne, PA (2,699 residents); Bay Pines, FL (2,700 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.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 34.8% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
92.2 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, New Mexico average
F
City profile score · University Park, NM
37/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share A+
60.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
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
$25,433
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
34.8%
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).
University Park profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 92/100 (A+) · 60.2%
Cost of living: 77/100 (B+) · 92.2 index
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $25,433
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 34.8%
How does University Park compare to other US cities?
Here's how University Park stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income2% 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 University Park 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 University Park near the bottom of New Mexico's cities
Among the 409 New Mexico cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, University Park ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares University Park only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#308 of 324
5th percentile in New Mexico
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 409
0th percentile in New Mexico
Poverty Rate
#68 of 408
83rd percentile in New Mexico
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#33 of 409
92nd 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
2nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$25,433University Park, NM median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context University Park, 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 University Park, NM.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)60.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)34.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)42.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,699
Median Income
$25,433
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
19.6
Poverty Rate
34.8%
Labor force participation
42.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
60.2%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
33.0%
Carpool
2.7%
Public Transit
1.4%
Walk
50.3%
Work from Home
7.9%
Other
4.7%
Based on 1,056 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 University Park. 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 University Park 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 University Park sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How University Park 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.