Best PlacesMagdalena, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Magdalena, 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.
Magdalena ranks 46,874th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Magdalena
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.
Magdalena's strengths and weaknesses
Where Magdalena ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 192 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Short commute14.4 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 83% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of towns
- Cheap childcare$630 a month, better than 76% of towns
Where Magdalena ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$33,815 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Magdalena
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Magdalena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $33,815, 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 Magdalena's effective rate of 0.51%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Magdalena
Magdalena runs older 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 Magdalena.
Who works in Magdalena, and how
Work in Magdalena centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 32%
- Work from home 57%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Magdalena
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Magdalena.
What the weather is like in Magdalena, month by month
Magdalena sees roughly 192 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 37° | 23° |
| April | 78° | 61° | 43° |
| July | 96° | 81° | 67° |
| October | 77° | 60° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Magdalena
Albuquerque International Sunport sits about 70 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 Magdalena
Schools across Magdalena average a D+, better than 22% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cubero ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Reserve ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Quemado HighB · 50% proficient
- Socorro HighB− · 45% proficient
- Reserve HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Magdalena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Magdalena 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 Magdalena against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Magdalena
Is Magdalena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Magdalena ranks 46,874th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, short commutes, and quiet, and lowest on education levels and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Magdalena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $165,857. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $33,815 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Magdalena safe?
Magdalena is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,036 per resident a year.
Compare Magdalena with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Magdalena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Magdalena 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.
Magdalena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Magdalena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Magdalena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Magdalena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Magdalena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Magdalena 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.