Best PlacesNorth Carmen, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Carmen, 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.
North Carmen ranks 47,609th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Carmen
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.
North Carmen's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Carmen ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 153 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 84% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 78% of towns
Where North Carmen ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Carmen
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Carmen home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $44,539, 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 North Carmen's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in North Carmen
North Carmen 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 North Carmen.
Who works in North Carmen, and how
Work in North Carmen centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in North Carmen
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across North Carmen.
What the weather is like in North Carmen, month by month
North Carmen sees roughly 153 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 North Carmen
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Carmen
Schools across North Carmen average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mora ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lazaro Larry Garcia MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Mora HighD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Carmen school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Carmen 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 North Carmen against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Carmen
Is North Carmen a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Carmen ranks 47,609th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, the weather, and a stable housing market, and lowest on crime 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 North Carmen expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $144,300. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $44,539 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is North Carmen safe?
North Carmen is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,142 per resident a year.
Compare North Carmen with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Carmen. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Carmen 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.
North Carmen detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Carmen: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Carmen: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Carmen: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Carmen: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Carmen 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.