Best PlacesBuena Vista, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buena Vista, 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.
Buena Vista ranks 42,727th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Buena Vista
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.
Buena Vista's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buena Vista ranks high
- Short commute3.4 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 149 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 89% of towns
Where Buena Vista ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$18,922 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
Who lives in Buena Vista
Buena Vista 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 Buena Vista.
Who works in Buena Vista, and how
Work in Buena Vista centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Buena Vista
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Buena Vista.
What the weather is like in Buena Vista, month by month
Buena Vista sees roughly 149 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 32° | 18° |
| April | 67° | 49° | 31° |
| July | 87° | 69° | 54° |
| October | 69° | 52° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Buena Vista
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buena Vista
Schools across Buena Vista average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mora ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lazaro Larry Garcia MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Mora HighD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buena Vista school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buena Vista 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 Buena Vista against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Buena Vista
Is Buena Vista a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buena Vista ranks 42,727th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, quiet, and a strong job market, and lowest on crime 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 Buena Vista safe?
Buena Vista is safer than 3% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,091 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Buena Vista?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 18. That works out to about 149 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of towns.
Compare Buena Vista with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buena Vista. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buena Vista 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.
Buena Vista detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buena Vista: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buena Vista: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buena Vista: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buena Vista: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buena Vista 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.
- 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.