Best Places87106, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 87106, 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.
87106 ranks 9,961st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 87106
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.
87106's strengths and weaknesses
Where 87106 ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 170 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 87106 ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 87106
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 87106 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,892, 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 87106'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 87106
87106 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 87106.
Who works in 87106, and how
Work in 87106 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 19%
Life in 87106
87106 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 77% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 87106 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 87106, month by month
87106 sees roughly 170 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 87106
Albuquerque International Sunport sits about 3 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 87106
Schools across 87106 average a B−, better than 66% of zip codes.
Top high schools
- Albuquerque Institute Of Math & ScienceA+ · 95% proficient
- Nex Gen AcademyA · 75% proficient
- College And Career High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 87106 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
87106 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 87106 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 87106 suits
Common questions about living in 87106
Is 87106 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 87106 ranks 9,961st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on biking, transit, and the weather, and lowest on crime and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 87106 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $363,206. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $74,892 median income, cost of living beats 55% of zip codes.
Is 87106 safe?
87106 is safer than 5% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,040 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 87106?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 24. That works out to about 170 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of zip codes.
Is 87106 good for families?
Schools beat 66% of zip codes, crime safety beats 5%, and childcare runs $853 a month.
Compare 87106 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 87106. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 87106 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.
87106 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 87106: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 87106: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 87106: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 87106: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
87106 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.