Another notable thing is that Ruidoso is a major vacation destination. Much of the village’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Ruidoso’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Ruidoso spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 16.90 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the village are less than they would otherwise be.
The population of Ruidoso is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 35.38% of adults in Ruidoso have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in Ruidoso in 2022 was $35,658, which is upper middle income relative to New Mexico, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $142,632 for a family of four. However, Ruidoso contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Ruidoso is an extremely ethnically-diverse village. The people who call Ruidoso home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ruidoso residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Ruidoso also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 29.20% of the village’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Ruidoso include Irish, German, English, Scottish, and French.
The most common language spoken in Ruidoso is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
