Best PlacesQuay County, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Quay County, 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.
Quay County ranks 2,250th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Quay County
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.
Quay County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Quay County ranks high
- Short commute11.5 minutes each way, better than 99% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 134 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 74% of counties
Where Quay County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Household income$46,786 median, better than only 5% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Quay County
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Quay County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $46,786, 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 Quay County's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Quay County
Quay County 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 Quay County.
Who works in Quay County, and how
Work in Quay County centers on education and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Quay County
Quay County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Quay County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Quay County growing, and who is moving in?
Quay County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Eddy County, NM.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Quay County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Quay County, month by month
Quay County sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 38° | 22° |
| April | 78° | 58° | 40° |
| July | 98° | 81° | 65° |
| October | 78° | 59° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Quay County
The nearest airport, Clovis Regional, is about 62 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 167 miles away.
The best schools in and around Quay County
Schools across Quay County average a C−, better than 30% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mosquero ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- San Jon ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- Logan ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- San Jon Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Logan HighB · 50% proficient
- Tucumcari HighC− · 26% proficient
- Mosquero HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Quay County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Quay County 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 Quay County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Quay County
Is Quay County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Quay County ranks 2,250th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, a stable housing market, and clean air, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Quay County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $112,436. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $46,786 median income, cost of living beats 7% of counties.
Is Quay County safe?
Quay County is safer than 23% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $606 per resident a year.
Compare Quay County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Quay County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Quay County 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.
Quay County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Quay County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Quay County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Quay County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Quay County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Quay County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.