Best PlacesLa Mesa, Albuquerque, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around La Mesa, Albuquerque, 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.
La Mesa, Albuquerque ranks 4,975th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. Thin health care access pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on the weather.
The best neighborhoods in La Mesa, Albuquerque
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.
La Mesa, Albuquerque's strengths and weaknesses
Where La Mesa, Albuquerque ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 171 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$853 a month, better than 81% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 73% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 71% of neighborhoods
Where La Mesa, Albuquerque ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in La Mesa, Albuquerque
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median La Mesa, Albuquerque home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $49,271; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 La Mesa, Albuquerque's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in La Mesa, Albuquerque
La Mesa, Albuquerque runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for La Mesa, Albuquerque.
Who works in La Mesa, Albuquerque, and how
Work in La Mesa, Albuquerque centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in La Mesa, Albuquerque
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across La Mesa, Albuquerque.
What the weather is like in La Mesa, Albuquerque, month by month
La Mesa, Albuquerque sees roughly 171 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 37° | 24° |
| April | 74° | 58° | 42° |
| July | 95° | 80° | 67° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 46° |
Flying in and out of La Mesa, Albuquerque
Albuquerque International Sunport sits about 4 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 69 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around La Mesa, Albuquerque
Schools across La Mesa, Albuquerque average a C+, better than 68% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- Nex Gen AcademyA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every La Mesa, Albuquerque school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
La Mesa, Albuquerque 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 La Mesa, Albuquerque against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in La Mesa, Albuquerque
Is La Mesa, Albuquerque a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, La Mesa, Albuquerque ranks 4,975th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, affordable childcare, and low disaster risk, and lowest on thin health care access and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is La Mesa, Albuquerque expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $211,599. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $49,271 median income, cost of living beats 20% of neighborhoods.
Is La Mesa, Albuquerque safe?
La Mesa, Albuquerque is safer than 5% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,559 per resident a year.
Compare La Mesa, Albuquerque with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to La Mesa, Albuquerque. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in La Mesa, Albuquerque 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.
La Mesa, Albuquerque detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for La Mesa, Albuquerque: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in La Mesa, Albuquerque: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of La Mesa, Albuquerque: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in La Mesa, Albuquerque: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
La Mesa, Albuquerque 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.