Best Places87048, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 87048, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
87048 ranks 5,455th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 87048
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
87048's strengths and weaknesses
Where 87048 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 161 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 87048 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 34% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 87048
A household needs to earn about $156,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 87048 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $103,483, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 87048's effective rate of 0.67%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 87048
87048 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 87048.
Who works in 87048, and how
Work in 87048 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 31%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 87048
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 87048.
What the weather is like in 87048, month by month
87048 sees roughly 161 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 33° | 20° |
| April | 71° | 54° | 36° |
| July | 92° | 77° | 60° |
| October | 72° | 56° | 39° |
Flying in and out of 87048
Albuquerque International Sunport sits about 14 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 69 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 87048
Schools across 87048 average a C+, better than 61% of zip codes.
Top middle schools
- Bernalillo MiddleD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Nex Gen AcademyA · 75% proficient
- Cleveland High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Bernalillo HighD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 87048 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
87048 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 87048 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 87048
Is 87048 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 87048 ranks 5,455th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, the weather, and an educated workforce, and lowest on air quality and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 87048 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $607,023. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $103,483 median income, cost of living beats 84% of zip codes.
Is 87048 safe?
87048 is safer than 34% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $500 per resident a year.
Compare 87048 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 87048. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 87048 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
87048 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 87048: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 87048: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 87048: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 87048: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
87048 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.