Best Places88318, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 88318, 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.
88318 ranks 27,693rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 88318
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.
88318's strengths and weaknesses
Where 88318 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 175 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 80% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$712 a month, better than 71% of zip codes
Where 88318 ranks low
- Household income$40,982 median, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 14% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 88318
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 88318 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $40,982; 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 88318's effective rate of 0.37%, 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 88318
88318 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 88318.
Who works in 88318, and how
Work in 88318 centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 88318
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 88318.
What the weather is like in 88318, month by month
88318 sees roughly 175 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 30° | 18° |
| April | 66° | 49° | 32° |
| July | 87° | 70° | 56° |
| October | 68° | 51° | 37° |
Flying in and out of 88318
Albuquerque International Sunport sits about 81 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 88318
Schools across 88318 average a C+, better than 54% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Corona ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Fort Sumner ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fort Sumner MiddleB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Fort Sumner HighA · 75% proficient
- Corona HighB · 50% proficient
- Capitan HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 88318 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
88318 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 88318 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 88318
Is 88318 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 88318 ranks 27,693rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, the weather, and low property taxes, and lowest on low incomes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 88318 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $180,857. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $40,982 median income, cost of living beats 6% of zip codes.
Is 88318 safe?
88318 is safer than 17% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $658 per resident a year.
Compare 88318 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 88318. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 88318 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.
88318 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 88318: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 88318: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 88318: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 88318: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
88318 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.