Best PlacesColumbus, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Columbus, 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.
Columbus ranks 45,570th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Columbus
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.
Columbus' strengths and weaknesses
Where Columbus ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 155 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 91% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of towns
- BikingBetter than 85% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
Where Columbus ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$32,585 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Columbus
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Columbus home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $32,585, 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 Columbus' effective rate of 0.49%, 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 Columbus
Columbus runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Columbus.
Who works in Columbus, and how
Work in Columbus centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Columbus
Columbus has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Columbus and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Columbus, month by month
Columbus sees roughly 155 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 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° | 42° | 26° |
| April | 82° | 63° | 42° |
| July | 99° | 83° | 67° |
| October | 82° | 64° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Columbus
The nearest airport, Grant County, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 229 miles away.
Columbus 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 Columbus against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Columbus
Is Columbus a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Columbus ranks 45,570th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, quiet, and walkability, and lowest on education levels 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 Columbus expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $154,500. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $32,585 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Columbus safe?
Columbus is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $818 per resident a year.
Compare Columbus with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Columbus. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Columbus 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.
Columbus detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Columbus: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Columbus: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Columbus: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Columbus: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Columbus 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.