Chama is a tiny village located in the state of New Mexico. With a population of 912 people and just one neighborhood, Chama is the 115th largest community in New Mexico.
Unlike some villages, Chama isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Chama are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Chama is a village of sales and office workers, service providers, and construction workers and builders. There are especially a lot of people living in Chama who work in management occupations (17.47%), office and administrative support (16.78%), and food service (12.67%).
Of important note, Chama is also a village of artists. Chama has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Chama’s character.
Overall, Chama’s crime rate is one of the lowest in the nation, which makes a great place to live if safety is an important concern.
The village 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, Chama has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Chama a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.
Residents of the village have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 14.83 minutes getting to work every day.
Chama is a small village, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
In terms of college education, the citizens of Chama rank slightly lower than the national average. 15.66% of adults 25 and older in Chama have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree, while 21.84% of adults have a 4-year degree or higher in the average American community.
The per capita income in Chama in 2022 was $27,305, 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 $109,220 for a family of four. However, Chama contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Chama is an extremely ethnically-diverse village. The people who call Chama 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 Chama, accounting for 80.90% of the village’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Chama residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Chama include German, English, Scots-Irish, French, and Lithuanian.
The most common language spoken in Chama is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Native American languages.
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.
Uncrowded roads, rural America and space to be the individual you are. If you like these characteristics, this neighborhood may fit you. With just 2 residents per square mile, is less crowded than 99.0% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
In addition, vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 53.7% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 98.9% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
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. 64.0% 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 97.3% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.
One of the really interesting characteristics about the neighborhood is that, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research, it is an excellent choice in which to reside for college students. Due to its popularity among college students who already choose to live here, its walkability, and its above average safety from crime, the neighborhood is ideal for prospective or already-enrolled college students. Between semesters and during school breaks, you'll notice that the excitement here fluctuates with the college seasons. Despite the excitement however, parents of college-age children can rest easy knowing that this neighborhood has an above average safety rating. For each of these reasons, the neighborhood is rated among the top 3.6% of college-friendly places to live in the state of New Mexico. In addition to being an excellent choice for college students, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for active retirees.
In addition, there is an especially high percentage of incarcerated people (1.1%) living in the neighborhood.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Czechoslovakian and Native American ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 1.1% of this neighborhood's residents have Czechoslovakian ancestry and 3.6% have Native American ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 1.9% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Native American languages at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.9% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Chama are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 68.3% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 30.8% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 82.0% of U.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, 46.8% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations, with 23.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (15.4%), and 14.1% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 62.3% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (34.8%).
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 Chama, NM, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Spanish (19.9%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (10.7%), and residents who report Mexican roots (7.1%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (3.8%), along with some Irish ancestry residents (3.8%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (64.0% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America. However, there is also a significant group of residents (11.9%) who commute over an hour in each direction.
Here most residents (79.6%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (10.5%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.