Best PlacesEddy County, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Eddy County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Eddy County ranks 842nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Eddy 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.
The best areas in Eddy County
The parts of Eddy County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Loving
Crime runs lower, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Carlsbad
Biking is better, though fewer households have young kids.
Artesia
Heat risk is lower.
Scores across Eddy County run from about the 14th to the 85th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Eddy County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Eddy County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 165 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of counties
- BikingBetter than 88% of counties
Where Eddy County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Eddy County
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Eddy County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,266, 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 Eddy County's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Eddy County
Eddy County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Eddy County.
Who works in Eddy County, and how
Work in Eddy County centers on mining & oil & gas and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Eddy County
Eddy County has more parkland per resident than 72% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 85% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Eddy County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Eddy County growing, and who is moving in?
Eddy County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Curry County, NM.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Eddy County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Eddy County, month by month
Eddy County sees roughly 165 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 Eddy County
The nearest airport, Cavern City Air Terminal, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 218 miles away.
The best schools in and around Eddy County
Schools across Eddy County average a B−, better than 73% of counties.
Top high schools
- Carlsbad Early College HighA · 75% proficient
- Artesia HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Jal HighD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Eddy County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Eddy 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 Eddy County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Eddy County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of counties and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Eddy County
Is Eddy County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Eddy County ranks 842nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, the weather, and a stable housing market, and lowest on air quality and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Eddy County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $223,368. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $82,266 median income, cost of living beats 84% of counties.
Is Eddy County safe?
Eddy County is safer than 16% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $667 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Eddy County?
July highs average about 99 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 27. That works out to about 165 pleasant days a year, more than 96% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Eddy County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Loving, Carlsbad, and Artesia. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Eddy County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Eddy County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Eddy 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.
Eddy County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Eddy County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Eddy County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Eddy County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Eddy County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Eddy 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.