Best PlacesMountain View, South Valley, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mountain View, South Valley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mountain View, South Valley ranks 3,856th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. Walkability pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Mountain View, South Valley
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.
Mountain View, South Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mountain View, South Valley ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 169 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$853 a month, better than 81% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 79% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than 73% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 71% of neighborhoods
Where Mountain View, South Valley ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Mountain View, South Valley
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mountain View, South Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,389, 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 Mountain View, South Valley's effective rate of 0.92%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mountain View, South Valley
Mountain View, South Valley 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 Mountain View, South Valley.
Who works in Mountain View, South Valley, and how
Work in Mountain View, South Valley centers on construction and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Mountain View, South Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mountain View, South Valley.
What the weather is like in Mountain View, South Valley, month by month
Mountain View, South Valley sees roughly 169 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 Mountain View, South Valley
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 Mountain View, South Valley
Schools across Mountain View, South Valley 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 Mountain View, South Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mountain View, South Valley 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 Mountain View, South Valley against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Mountain View, South Valley
Is Mountain View, South Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mountain View, South Valley ranks 3,856th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, affordable childcare, and few empty homes, and lowest on walkability and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mountain View, South Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $250,022. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $70,389 median income, cost of living beats 47% of neighborhoods.
Is Mountain View, South Valley safe?
Yes, Mountain View, South Valley is safer than 73% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $436 per resident a year.
Compare Mountain View, South Valley with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mountain View, South Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mountain View, South Valley 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.
Mountain View, South Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mountain View, South Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mountain View, South Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mountain View, South Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mountain View, South Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mountain View, South Valley 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.