Best Places87102, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 87102, 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.
87102 ranks 22,515th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 87102
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.
87102's strengths and weaknesses
Where 87102 ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 98% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 169 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of zip codes
Where 87102 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Household income$48,687 median, better than only 9% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 87102
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 87102 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $48,687, 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 87102's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 87102
87102 runs younger 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 87102.
Who works in 87102, and how
Work in 87102 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in 87102
87102 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 83% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 87102 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 87102, month by month
87102 sees roughly 169 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 87102
Albuquerque International Sunport sits about 4 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 87102
Schools across 87102 average a B−, better than 63% of zip codes.
Top high schools
- Nex Gen AcademyA · 75% proficient
- Early College AcademyA · 75% proficient
- Albuquerque HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 87102 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
87102 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 87102 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 87102 suits
Common questions about living in 87102
Is 87102 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 87102 ranks 22,515th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cell coverage, biking, and walkability, and lowest on noise and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 87102 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $244,119. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $48,687 median income, cost of living beats 11% of zip codes.
Is 87102 safe?
87102 is safer than 2% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,415 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 87102?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 24. That works out to about 169 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of zip codes.
Is 87102 good for families?
Schools beat 63% of zip codes, crime safety beats 2%, and childcare runs $853 a month.
Compare 87102 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 87102. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 87102 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.
87102 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 87102: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 87102: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 87102: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 87102: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
87102 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.