Best PlacesPlayas, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Playas, 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.
Playas ranks 34,177th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Playas
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.
Playas' strengths and weaknesses
Where Playas ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 153 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 64% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 64% of towns
Where Playas ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Playas
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Playas home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,613, 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 Playas' effective rate of 0.38%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Playas
Playas 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 Playas.
Who works in Playas, and how
Work in Playas centers on public administration 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 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Playas
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Playas.
What the weather is like in Playas, month by month
Playas sees roughly 153 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 39° | 24° |
| April | 75° | 58° | 37° |
| July | 93° | 77° | 63° |
| October | 77° | 59° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Playas
The nearest airport, Grant County, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 223 miles away.
The best schools in and around Playas
Schools across Playas average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- R.v.traylor ElementaryC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
- Dugan-tarango MiddleD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Lordsburg HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Animas 7-12 SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Playas school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Playas 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 Playas against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Playas
Is Playas a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Playas ranks 34,177th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, low property taxes, and cheap car insurance, 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 Playas expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,581. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $66,613 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Playas safe?
Playas is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $602 per resident a year.
Compare Playas with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Playas. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Playas 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.
Playas detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Playas: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Playas: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Playas: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Playas: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Playas 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.