Best PlacesHidalgo County, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hidalgo 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.
Hidalgo County ranks 2,880th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hidalgo 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.
Hidalgo County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hidalgo County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 150 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of counties
- TransitBetter than 75% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 69% of counties
- Short commute22.2 minutes each way, better than 64% of counties
Where Hidalgo County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hidalgo County
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hidalgo County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,441, 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 Hidalgo County's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hidalgo County
Hidalgo County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hidalgo County.
Who works in Hidalgo County, and how
Work in Hidalgo County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Hidalgo County
Hidalgo County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Hidalgo County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hidalgo County growing, and who is moving in?
Hidalgo County has lost about 13% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chaves County, NM.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hidalgo County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hidalgo County, month by month
Hidalgo County sees roughly 150 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 39° | 24° |
| April | 75° | 58° | 37° |
| July | 93° | 77° | 63° |
| October | 77° | 59° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Hidalgo County
The nearest airport, Grant County, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 204 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hidalgo County
Schools across Hidalgo County average a C−, better than 20% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- R.v.traylor ElementaryC · 33% proficient
- Duncan ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
- Dugan-tarango MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Lordsburg HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Duncan High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Animas 7-12 SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hidalgo County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hidalgo 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 Hidalgo County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Hidalgo County
Is Hidalgo County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hidalgo County ranks 2,880th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, cheap car insurance, and transit, and lowest on internet speeds and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hidalgo County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $119,739. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $50,441 median income, cost of living beats 14% of counties.
Is Hidalgo County safe?
Hidalgo County is safer than 10% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $728 per resident a year.
Compare Hidalgo County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hidalgo County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hidalgo 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.
Hidalgo County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hidalgo County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hidalgo County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hidalgo County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hidalgo County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hidalgo 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.