2024 Nssb at Night

Fast Facts About Los Alamos Laboratory

How big is the Lab? Where is it located? What’s the total workforce?

See quick answers about who and where we are.

Technical Areas Map
Map of the Laboratory's technical areas. Click to enlarge.

Location

Los Alamos National Laboratory sits at the base of the Jemez Mountains in Northern New Mexico, about 35 miles northwest of Santa Fe and 60 miles north of Albuquerque.

Elevation: Approximately 7,300 feet.

Size: Nearly 40 square miles (or about the size of Washington, D.C.).

Employees

Number of employees: Our total workforce is about 18,000 people. Of those:

  • Roughly 13,000 are employees of Triad National Security LLC
  •  400 are guard force
  • 1,400 are unionized craft workers
  • 1,600 are students
  • 550 are postdoctoral researchers
  • 1,000 are contractors

On-site, off-site and hybrid workers

Percentage of career employees on-site on a typical workday (not including craft workers, contractors or students):

  • 72.4% work on-site every day
  • 15.6% are hybrid, working both on-site and in home offices in a given week
  • 12% work exclusively from home offices

Where we live

  •  66% of Lab employees live outside Los Alamos County.
"We take comprehensive wildfire management very seriously" - Deputy Laboratory Director for Operations Mark Davis

            “The mountains and their forests are our home, and we take seriously our role as a steward of the land and our responsibility to protect Laboratory property, our workers and the surrounding communities. Comprehensive wildfire management is critical to this responsibility.

The Lab has a team of experienced wildland fire management professionals dedicated to clearing brush, removing dead trees and maintaining evacuation routes and fire breaks throughout the year.

We also ensure the safe storage of hazardous materials in facilities and containers that are specifically designed to withstand extreme conditions, including wildfire, and continuously monitor the air across the site to ensure that no hazardous materials are released into the environment.”

— Deputy Laboratory Director for Operations Mark Davis

Wildfire preparedness

For over two decades, the Lab has performed extensive and strategic wildfire mitigation work to help ensure we are well prepared. Learn more about our efforts here.

Learn how we prepare