Best Places87547, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 87547, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
87547 ranks 66th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 87547
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.
87547's strengths and weaknesses
Where 87547 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Household income$173,962 median, better than 98% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 202 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of zip codes
Where 87547 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,491 a month, better than only 7% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 30% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 32% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 36% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 87547
A household needs to earn about $141,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 87547 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $173,962, 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 87547's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 87547
87547 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 87547.
Who works in 87547, and how
Work in 87547 centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 87547
87547 has more parkland per resident than 96% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 87547 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 87547, month by month
87547 sees roughly 202 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 87547
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around 87547
Schools across 87547 average an A−, better than 76% of zip codes.
Top high schools
- Los Alamos HighA · 70% proficient
- Pojoaque HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 87547 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
87547 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 87547 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 87547
Is 87547 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 87547 ranks 66th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, an educated workforce, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 87547 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $559,215. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $173,962 median income, cost of living beats 99% of zip codes.
Is 87547 safe?
87547 is safer than 42% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $445 per resident a year.
Compare 87547 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 87547. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 87547 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.
87547 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 87547: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 87547: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 87547: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 87547: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
87547 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.