Best PlacesBent, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bent, 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.
Bent ranks 45,063rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bent
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.
Bent's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bent ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 201 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of towns
- Short commute22.7 minutes each way, better than 76% of towns
Where Bent ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$28,659 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 5% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bent
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bent home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $28,659; 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 Bent's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bent
Bent'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 Bent.
Who works in Bent, and how
Work in Bent centers on construction and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bent
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bent.
What the weather is like in Bent, month by month
Bent sees roughly 201 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 42° | 29° |
| April | 79° | 64° | 47° |
| July | 96° | 82° | 69° |
| October | 78° | 64° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Bent
The nearest airport, Roswell Air Center, is about 78 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bent
Schools across Bent average a D+, better than 15% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Tularosa IntermediateC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tularosa MiddleC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Tularosa HighD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bent school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bent 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 Bent against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bent
Is Bent a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bent ranks 45,063rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, clean air, and civic engagement, and lowest on a weak job market 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 Bent expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $128,400. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $28,659 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Bent safe?
Bent is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $685 per resident a year.
Compare Bent with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bent. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bent 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.
Bent detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bent: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bent: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bent: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bent: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bent 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.