Best PlacesMaxwell, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Maxwell, 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.
Maxwell ranks 35,073rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Maxwell
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.
Maxwell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Maxwell ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 137 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of towns
- Short commute22.4 minutes each way, better than 78% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 77% of towns
Where Maxwell ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Maxwell
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Maxwell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,157, 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 Maxwell's effective rate of 0.50%, 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 Maxwell
Maxwell runs older 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 Maxwell.
Who works in Maxwell, and how
Work in Maxwell centers on agriculture & forestry and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Maxwell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Maxwell.
What the weather is like in Maxwell, month by month
Maxwell sees roughly 137 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 30° | 14° |
| April | 69° | 49° | 30° |
| July | 90° | 71° | 54° |
| October | 72° | 51° | 33° |
Flying in and out of Maxwell
The nearest airport, San Luis Valley Regional/Bergman Field, is about 94 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 154 miles away.
The best schools in and around Maxwell
Schools across Maxwell average a C, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cimarron ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Maxwell ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- Eagle Nest ElementaryB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Maxwell MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Eagle Nest MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Cimarron MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Raton HighB · 50% proficient
- Cimarron HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Maxwell HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Maxwell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Maxwell 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 Maxwell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Maxwell
Is Maxwell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Maxwell ranks 35,073rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, cell coverage, and the weather, and lowest on tree cover and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Maxwell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,400. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $54,157 median income, cost of living beats 16% of towns.
Is Maxwell safe?
Maxwell is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $554 per resident a year.
Compare Maxwell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Maxwell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Maxwell 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.
Maxwell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Maxwell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Maxwell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Maxwell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Maxwell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Maxwell 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.