Best Places87532, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 87532, 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.
87532 ranks 27,355th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 87532
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.
87532's strengths and weaknesses
Where 87532 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 164 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 80% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 78% of zip codes
Where 87532 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 87532
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 87532 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $58,899; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 87532's effective rate of 0.36%, 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 87532
87532's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 87532.
Who works in 87532, and how
Work in 87532 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 87532
87532 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 87532 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 87532, month by month
87532 sees roughly 164 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 87532
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around 87532
Schools across 87532 average a D+, better than 15% of zip codes.
Top high schools
- Los Alamos HighA · 70% proficient
- Pojoaque HighB · 50% proficient
- Penasco HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 87532 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
87532 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 87532 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 87532
Is 87532 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 87532 ranks 27,355th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, low property taxes, and the weather, and lowest on air quality and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 87532 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $250,190. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $58,899 median income, cost of living beats 25% of zip codes.
Is 87532 safe?
87532 is safer than 7% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $890 per resident a year.
Compare 87532 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 87532. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 87532 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.
87532 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 87532: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 87532: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 87532: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 87532: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
87532 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.