Best PlacesCarlsbad, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Carlsbad, 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.
Carlsbad ranks 1,251st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Carlsbad
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.
Carlsbad's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carlsbad ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of cities
- QuietBetter than 87% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 163 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of cities
Where Carlsbad ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 1% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 7% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Carlsbad
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carlsbad home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,218, 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 Carlsbad's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Carlsbad
Carlsbad'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 Carlsbad.
Who works in Carlsbad, and how
Work in Carlsbad centers on mining & oil & gas and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Carlsbad
Carlsbad has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Carlsbad and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Carlsbad, month by month
Carlsbad sees roughly 163 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 43° | 27° |
| April | 84° | 65° | 46° |
| July | 99° | 84° | 69° |
| October | 82° | 64° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Carlsbad
The nearest airport, Cavern City Air Terminal, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 227 miles away.
The best schools in and around Carlsbad
Schools across Carlsbad average a B, better than 66% of cities.
Top high schools
- Carlsbad Early College HighA · 75% proficient
- Artesia HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carlsbad school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carlsbad 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 Carlsbad against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Carlsbad suits
Common questions about living in Carlsbad
Is Carlsbad a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carlsbad ranks 1,251st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a stable housing market, cell coverage, and low property taxes, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carlsbad expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $212,996. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $81,218 median income, cost of living beats 52% of cities.
Is Carlsbad safe?
Carlsbad is safer than 12% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $675 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Carlsbad?
July highs average about 99 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 27. That works out to about 163 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of cities.
Is Carlsbad good for families?
Schools beat 66% of cities, crime safety beats 12%, and childcare runs $998 a month.
Compare Carlsbad with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carlsbad. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carlsbad 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.
Carlsbad detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carlsbad: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carlsbad: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carlsbad: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carlsbad: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carlsbad 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.