Best PlacesMontezuma, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Montezuma, 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.
Montezuma ranks 45,275th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Montezuma
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.
Montezuma's strengths and weaknesses
Where Montezuma ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 150 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 87% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 82% of towns
Where Montezuma ranks low
- Household income$41,405 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Montezuma
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Montezuma home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $41,405, 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 Montezuma's effective rate of 0.41%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Montezuma
Montezuma 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 Montezuma.
Who works in Montezuma, and how
Work in Montezuma centers on education and other services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Montezuma
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Montezuma.
What the weather is like in Montezuma, month by month
Montezuma sees roughly 150 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 32° | 18° |
| April | 67° | 49° | 31° |
| July | 87° | 69° | 54° |
| October | 69° | 52° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Montezuma
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Montezuma
Schools across Montezuma average a D+, better than 11% of towns.
Top high schools
- Robertson HighB− · 41% proficient
- Pecos HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Montezuma school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Montezuma 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 Montezuma against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Montezuma
Is Montezuma a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Montezuma ranks 45,275th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, population health, and low property taxes, and lowest on low incomes and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Montezuma expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $346,521. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $41,405 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Montezuma safe?
Montezuma is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $990 per resident a year.
Compare Montezuma with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Montezuma. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Montezuma 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.
Montezuma detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Montezuma: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Montezuma: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Montezuma: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Montezuma: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Montezuma 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.