Best PlacesAngel Fire, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Angel Fire, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Angel Fire ranks 7,980th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Angel Fire
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.
Angel Fire's strengths and weaknesses
Where Angel Fire ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 139 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of towns
Where Angel Fire ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Angel Fire
A household needs to earn about $124,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Angel Fire home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $91,538, 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 Angel Fire's effective rate of 0.50%, 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 Angel Fire
Angel Fire 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 Angel Fire.
Who works in Angel Fire, and how
Work in Angel Fire centers on arts & entertainment and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 58%
- Work from home 36%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Angel Fire
Angel Fire has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Angel Fire and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Angel Fire, month by month
Angel Fire sees roughly 139 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 77 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 4. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 19° | 4° |
| April | 57° | 40° | 24° |
| July | 77° | 59° | 42° |
| October | 60° | 41° | 24° |
Flying in and out of Angel Fire
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 69 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 119 miles away.
The best schools in and around Angel Fire
Schools across Angel Fire average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cimarron ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Eagle Nest ElementaryB · 46% proficient
- Ranchos De Taos ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cimarron MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Moreno Valley HighB · 50% proficient
- Taos HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Penasco HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Angel Fire school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Angel Fire 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 Angel Fire against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Angel Fire
Is Angel Fire a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Angel Fire ranks 7,980th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, heat safety, and an educated workforce, and lowest on disaster risk and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Angel Fire expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $496,540. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $91,538 median income, cost of living beats 63% of towns.
Is Angel Fire safe?
Yes, Angel Fire is safer than 71% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $325 per resident a year.
Compare Angel Fire with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Angel Fire. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Angel Fire 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.
Angel Fire detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Angel Fire: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Angel Fire: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Angel Fire: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Angel Fire: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Angel Fire 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.