Kirtland AFB vs South Valley

A side-by-side comparison of Kirtland AFB and South Valley: population, income, housing, and more.

Kirtland AFB and South Valley are places in New Mexico. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

South Valley has the higher population (36,605 vs 3,421 in Kirtland AFB). Kirtland AFB has the higher median household income ($79,301 vs $51,062 in South Valley). Since 2019, South Valley's population has grown faster (-8.7% vs -20.1%).

Population, income & housing

	Kirtland AFB	South Valley
Population	3,421	36,605
Median age	23.7 yrs	40.5 yrs
Median household income	$79,301	$51,062
Median home value	—	$205,200
Median gross rent	$1,788	$942
Housing units	1,276	14,114
Homeownership rate	2.2%	75.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	44.1%	14.7%
Unemployment rate	13.9%	5.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Kirtland AFB	South Valley
Population	4,279 → 3,421 (-20.1%)	40,080 → 36,605 (-8.7%)
Median household income	$61,645 → $79,301 (+28.6%)	$39,714 → $51,062 (+28.6%)
Median home value	—	$147,400 → $205,200 (+39.2%)
Median gross rent	$1,399 → $1,788 (+27.8%)	$709 → $942 (+32.9%)

Kirtland AFB

Population

4,2793,421

Median household income

$61,645$79,301

Median gross rent

$1,399$1,788

South Valley

Population

40,08036,605

Median household income

$39,714$51,062

Median home value

$147,400$205,200

Median gross rent

$709$942

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Kirtland AFB	South Valley
Under 5	14.9%	5.1%
5 to 17	16.8%	16.5%
18 to 24	23.6%	9.7%
25 to 34	22.4%	12.1%
35 to 44	13.5%	11.8%
45 to 54	6.3%	10.9%
55 to 64	0.0%	14.5%
65 to 74	1.5%	11.3%
75 and over	0.9%	8.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Kirtland AFB	South Valley
White (non-Hispanic)	49.1%	15.8%
Black or African American	12.1%	1.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.9%
Asian	7.4%	0.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.4%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.1%
Two or more races	4.8%	1.2%
Hispanic or Latino	26.0%	80.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Kirtland AFB	South Valley
No high school diploma	2.2%	19.1%
High school graduate	9.3%	37.5%
Some college or associate's	44.4%	28.7%
Bachelor's degree	25.4%	8.5%
Graduate or professional degree	18.8%	6.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Kirtland AFB	South Valley
Drove alone	78.6%	77.9%
Carpooled	10.5%	12.7%
Public transit	0.2%	0.3%
Walked	6.9%	0.9%
Bicycle	0.5%	0.7%
Worked from home	1.7%	7.0%
Other means	1.6%	0.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Kirtland AFB	South Valley
1-unit, detached	39.6%	77.4%
1-unit, attached	38.1%	1.6%
2 to 4 units	21.4%	3.8%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	1.7%
20 or more units	0.0%	1.6%
Mobile home & other	0.9%	13.9%

Poverty & households

	Kirtland AFB	South Valley
Poverty rate	12.9%	19.2%
Average household size	2.38	2.75
Mean commute (minutes)	9	26
Median year structure built	2002	1968