Best PlacesKirtland, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kirtland, 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.
Kirtland ranks 29,201st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kirtland
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.
Kirtland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kirtland ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 158 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- BikingBetter than 83% of towns
Where Kirtland ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 17% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kirtland
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kirtland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,665, 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 Kirtland'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 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 Kirtland
Kirtland 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 Kirtland.
Who works in Kirtland, and how
Work in Kirtland centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Kirtland
Kirtland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Kirtland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kirtland, month by month
Kirtland sees roughly 158 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 31° | 18° |
| April | 71° | 53° | 34° |
| July | 96° | 79° | 61° |
| October | 73° | 54° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Kirtland
The nearest airport, Cortez Municipal, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 152 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kirtland
Schools across Kirtland average a D+, better than 17% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Judy Nelson ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Mesa ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
- Kirtland ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newcomb MiddleD · 21% proficient
- Tse Bit Ai MiddleD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Farmington HighA− · 65% proficient
- Kirtland Central HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Newcomb HighF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kirtland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kirtland 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 Kirtland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kirtland
Is Kirtland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kirtland ranks 29,201st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, cell coverage, and the weather, and lowest on thin health care access and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kirtland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $192,243. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $70,665 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is Kirtland safe?
Kirtland is safer than 19% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $619 per resident a year.
Compare Kirtland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kirtland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kirtland 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.
Kirtland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kirtland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kirtland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kirtland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kirtland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kirtland 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.