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. White Sands has seen a significant amount of newer housing growth in recent years. Quite often, new home construction is the result of new residents moving in who are middle class or wealthier, attracted by jobs, a healthy local economy, or other amenities as they leave nearby or far away areas for greener pastures. This seems to be the case in White Sands, where the median household income is $87,059.00.
The armed forces are a huge part of the life in White Sands, employing 15.05% of the workforce. While it is a military town, the civilian sector still plays an important role in the local economy, where the Public Service and Education industries employ 45.60% and 13.21% of the civilian workforce, respectively.
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.
One of the benefits of White Sands is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 12.53 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.
Being a small town, White Sands does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The education level of White Sands ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in White Sands, 43.31% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.
The per capita income in White Sands in 2022 was $30,078, which is middle income relative to New Mexico, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $120,312 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 Asian. White Sands also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 11.79% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in White Sands include German, English, Irish, Norwegian, and European.
The most common language spoken in White Sands is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Korean.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
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 10.8% 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.
The neighborhood has a greater proportion of government workers living in it than 100.0% of the neighborhoods in America, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. This is a unique feature of this neighborhood, and one that shapes its character.
Furthermore, the neighborhood stands out nationally for having a greater proportion of its residents active in the military than 99.6% 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.
In addition, from major sales accounts to fast-food workers, sales and service employees are often the backbone of the local economy. In the neighborhood, they truly stand out. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis identifies this neighborhood as having a higher percentage of sales and service workers than 97.8% of all American neighborhoods.
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. 86.2% 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 99.8% 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, 100.0% 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.
More people in choose to walk to work each day (19.0%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.
Also, would you like to be able to ride your bike to work? If you are attracted to the idea of getting a little exercise of the two-wheeled type while reducing your carbon footprint, bicycling to work might be the answer. But which neighborhood you live in can make this either impossible, or alternatively, a great and realistic option. NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that the neighborhood is a fantastic option for bicycle commuters, as 3.5% of commuters here do ride their bikes to and from work on a daily basis. This is a higher amount than we found in 96.8% of the neighborhoods in America.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Swiss and Croatian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 5.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Swiss ancestry and 1.0% have Croatian ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 2.8% 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 97.3% 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 97.3% of U.S. Neighborhoods. This neighborhood, more than almost any other in America, has new residents from other areas.
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 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 62.8% 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.
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, 45.6% 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 43.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (42.0%), and 14.8% 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 80.9% 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 (20.4%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (18.7%), and residents who report Irish roots (12.3%), and some of the residents are also of Asian ancestry (8.2%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (7.9%), 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 (86.2% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (64.1%) 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 (19.0%) and 9.6% 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.
