Best PlacesHernandez, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hernandez, 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.
Hernandez ranks 42,133rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hernandez
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.
Hernandez's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hernandez ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 81% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 119 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of towns
Where Hernandez ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute35.7 minutes each way, better than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hernandez
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hernandez home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $58,466, 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 Hernandez's effective rate of 0.23%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hernandez
Hernandez runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hernandez.
Who works in Hernandez, and how
Work in Hernandez centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Hernandez
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hernandez.
What the weather is like in Hernandez, month by month
Hernandez sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Hernandez
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hernandez
Schools across Hernandez average a D+, better than 15% of towns.
Top high schools
- Espanola Valley HighD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hernandez school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hernandez 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 Hernandez against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hernandez
Is Hernandez a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hernandez ranks 42,133rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, low property taxes, and transit, and lowest on air quality and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hernandez expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $272,392. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $58,466 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Hernandez safe?
Hernandez is safer than 7% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $889 per resident a year.
Compare Hernandez with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hernandez. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hernandez 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.
Hernandez detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hernandez: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hernandez: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hernandez: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hernandez: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hernandez 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.