Best PlacesChaves County, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Chaves County, 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.
Chaves County ranks 1,851st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Chaves County
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.
Chaves County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chaves County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 157 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Short commute19.3 minutes each way, better than 83% of counties
Where Chaves County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Chaves County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chaves County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,035, 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 Chaves County's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Chaves County
Chaves County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Chaves County.
Who works in Chaves County, and how
Work in Chaves County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Chaves County
Chaves County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 84% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Chaves County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Chaves County growing, and who is moving in?
Chaves County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Eddy County, NM.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Chaves County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Chaves County, month by month
Chaves County sees roughly 157 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 100 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 41° | 26° |
| April | 84° | 64° | 45° |
| July | 100° | 84° | 69° |
| October | 83° | 63° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Chaves County
The nearest airport, Roswell Air Center, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chaves County
Schools across Chaves County average a C, better than 32% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cloudcroft ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Military Heights ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Valley View ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cloudcroft MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Berrendo MiddleC · 34% proficient
- Sierra MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Early College High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Fort Sumner HighA · 75% proficient
- Artesia HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chaves County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chaves County 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 Chaves County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Chaves County suits
Common questions about living in Chaves County
Is Chaves County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chaves County ranks 1,851st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, clean air, and the weather, 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 Chaves County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $166,602. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $58,035 median income, cost of living beats 29% of counties.
Is Chaves County safe?
Chaves County is safer than 19% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $630 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Chaves County?
July highs average about 100 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 26. That works out to about 157 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of counties.
Is Chaves County good for families?
Schools beat 32% of counties, crime safety beats 19%, and childcare runs $726 a month.
Compare Chaves County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chaves County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chaves County 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.
Chaves County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chaves County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chaves County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chaves County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chaves County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chaves County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.