Best Places87109, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 87109, 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.
87109 ranks 7,293rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 87109
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.
87109's strengths and weaknesses
Where 87109 ranks high
- BikingBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 171 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 87109 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 21% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 87109
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 87109 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $73,733, 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 87109's effective rate of 0.90%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 87109
87109 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 87109.
Who works in 87109, and how
Work in 87109 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 87109
87109 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 66% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 87109 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 87109, month by month
87109 sees roughly 171 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 87109
Albuquerque International Sunport sits about 8 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 87109
Schools across 87109 average a B−, better than 64% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Aces Technical High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Cottonwood Classical PrepA+ · 81% proficient
- Nex Gen AcademyA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 87109 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
87109 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 87109 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 87109 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 87109
Is 87109 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 87109 ranks 7,293rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on biking, the weather, and low disaster risk, and lowest on air quality and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 87109 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $328,258. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $73,733 median income, cost of living beats 61% of zip codes.
Is 87109 safe?
87109 is safer than 21% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $604 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 87109?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 24. That works out to about 171 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of zip codes.
Is 87109 good for families?
Schools beat 64% of zip codes, crime safety beats 21%, and childcare runs $853 a month.
Compare 87109 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 87109. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 87109 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.
87109 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 87109: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 87109: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 87109: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 87109: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
87109 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.