Albuquerque, NM (population: 535,923) has five biology schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. University of New Mexico-Main Campus, the highest ranked school in this group with a biology program, has a total student population of 27,241. It is the 1620th highest ranked school in the USA and one of the highest in the state .
Biology students from Albuquerque schools who go on to become biologists, marine biologists, wildlife biologists, molecular biologists, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 29,630 people working as biological scientists alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $69,430. Also, Zoologists and wildlife biologists make on average $60,670 per year and there are about 17,460 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Albuquerque area alone, there are 60 employed zoologists and wildlife biologists earning an average salary of $55,650. Biological scientists in this area earn $65,600/yr and there are 100 employed.
Albuquerque lies in Bernalillo county, which is one of the 23 counties in New Mexico. Overall, the Albuquerque area has 381,870 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.6% unemployment rate, $19.31/hr average worker wage, and a $40,170 average annual salary. Thus, about 0.267 out of every 1000 jobs in Albuquerque are held by biological scientists, and 0.157/1000 are held by zoologists and wildlife biologists.
Of the 5 biology schools with a 100-mile radius of Albuquerque, only 1 has a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, University of New Mexico-Main Campus comes out as the most expensive ($10,302/yr) for biology students, with Northern New Mexico College as the lowest, reported at only $5,623/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Albuquerque |
| Albuequerque | NM | - | 1 | 4.18669 | 13 | 3.0 miles |
| Rio Rancho | NM | 85,837 | 1 | 10.6625 | 12 | 10.6 miles |
| Santa Fe | NM | 74,019 | 6 | 20.0822 | 127 | 54.1 miles |
| Grants | NM | - | 1 | 9.85236 | 40 | 69.7 miles |