Best PlacesHatch, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hatch, 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.
Hatch ranks 44,841st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hatch
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.
Hatch's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hatch ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 164 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of towns
- Short commute17.7 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of towns
- BikingBetter than 83% of towns
Where Hatch ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Household income$40,940 median, better than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hatch
A household needs to earn about $26,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hatch home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $40,940, 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 Hatch's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hatch
Hatch runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hatch.
Who works in Hatch, and how
Work in Hatch centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Hatch
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hatch.
What the weather is like in Hatch, month by month
Hatch sees roughly 164 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 39° | 24° |
| April | 80° | 62° | 42° |
| July | 97° | 82° | 67° |
| October | 80° | 62° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Hatch
The nearest airport, Grant County, is about 58 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 167 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hatch
Schools across Hatch average a C, better than 40% of towns.
Top high schools
- Mayfield HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hatch school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hatch 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 Hatch against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hatch
Is Hatch a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hatch ranks 44,841st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on thin health care access and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hatch expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $105,682. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $40,940 median income, cost of living beats 6% of towns.
Is Hatch safe?
Hatch is safer than 15% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $693 per resident a year.
Compare Hatch with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hatch. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hatch 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.
Hatch detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hatch: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hatch: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hatch: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hatch: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hatch 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.