Mesilla vs White Sands

A side-by-side comparison of Mesilla and White Sands: population, income, housing, and more.

Mesilla and White Sands are places in New Mexico. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Mesilla has the higher population (1,850 vs 1,577 in White Sands). White Sands has the higher median household income ($87,059 vs $73,681 in Mesilla). Since 2019, White Sands's population has grown faster (+26.6% vs -18.9%).

Population, income & housing

	Mesilla	White Sands
Population	1,850	1,577
Median age	55.1 yrs	21.7 yrs
Median household income	$73,681	$87,059
Median home value	$296,200	—
Median gross rent	$1,058	$1,288
Housing units	896	461
Homeownership rate	82.7%	0.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	46.7%	43.3%
Unemployment rate	4.1%	0.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Mesilla	White Sands
Population	2,280 → 1,850 (-18.9%)	1,246 → 1,577 (+26.6%)
Median household income	$47,388 → $73,681 (+55.5%)	$56,250 → $87,059 (+54.8%)
Median home value	$213,500 → $296,200 (+38.7%)	—
Median gross rent	$727 → $1,058 (+45.5%)	$1,069 → $1,288 (+20.5%)

Mesilla

Population

2,2801,850

Median household income

$47,388$73,681

Median home value

$213,500$296,200

Median gross rent

$727$1,058

White Sands

Population

1,2461,577

Median household income

$56,250$87,059

Median gross rent

$1,069$1,288

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Mesilla	White Sands
Under 5	0.0%	15.8%
5 to 17	10.2%	11.9%
18 to 24	17.2%	38.7%
25 to 34	3.4%	13.3%
35 to 44	4.6%	9.6%
45 to 54	13.9%	3.8%
55 to 64	21.4%	6.2%
65 to 74	14.2%	0.8%
75 and over	15.1%	0.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Mesilla	White Sands
White (non-Hispanic)	54.5%	65.9%
Black or African American	0.0%	3.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	0.1%	8.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.5%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.9%	10.2%
Hispanic or Latino	41.5%	11.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Mesilla	White Sands
No high school diploma	6.9%	2.6%
High school graduate	23.3%	12.4%
Some college or associate's	23.1%	41.6%
Bachelor's degree	23.8%	22.2%
Graduate or professional degree	23.0%	21.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Mesilla	White Sands
Drove alone	66.7%	65.1%
Carpooled	3.9%	8.9%
Public transit	2.7%	0.0%
Walked	0.8%	18.5%
Bicycle	3.8%	3.6%
Worked from home	22.1%	3.9%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Mesilla	White Sands
1-unit, detached	90.7%	88.5%
1-unit, attached	2.3%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	6.9%	8.9%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	2.6%

Poverty & households

	Mesilla	White Sands
Poverty rate	5.4%	1.1%
Average household size	2.30	2.96
Mean commute (minutes)	18	11
Median year structure built	1969	2003