Best Places87059, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 87059, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
87059 ranks 7,693rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 87059
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.
87059's strengths and weaknesses
Where 87059 ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 181 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 81% of zip codes
- Household income$97,114 median, better than 78% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 76% of zip codes
Where 87059 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Short commute33.1 minutes each way, better than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 87059
A household needs to earn about $89,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 87059 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $97,114, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 87059's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 87059
87059 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 87059.
Who works in 87059, and how
Work in 87059 centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 87059
87059 has more parkland per resident than 97% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 87059 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 87059, month by month
87059 sees roughly 181 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 37° | 24° |
| April | 74° | 58° | 42° |
| July | 95° | 80° | 67° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 87059
Albuquerque International Sunport sits about 17 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 87059
Schools across 87059 average a B−, better than 65% of zip codes.
Top high schools
- Nex Gen AcademyA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 87059 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
87059 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 87059 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 87059
Is 87059 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 87059 ranks 7,693rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on the weather, an educated workforce, and what local pay buys, and lowest on air quality and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 87059 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $344,633. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $97,114 median income, cost of living beats 81% of zip codes.
Is 87059 safe?
87059 is safer than 53% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $401 per resident a year.
Compare 87059 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 87059. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 87059 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.
87059 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 87059: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 87059: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 87059: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 87059: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
87059 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.