Best PlacesRanchito, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ranchito, 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.
Ranchito ranks 27,050th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ranchito
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.
Ranchito's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ranchito ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 163 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of towns
Where Ranchito ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ranchito
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ranchito home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $84,045, 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 Ranchito's effective rate of 0.39%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ranchito
Ranchito 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 Ranchito.
Who works in Ranchito, and how
Work in Ranchito centers on arts & entertainment and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Ranchito
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ranchito.
What the weather is like in Ranchito, month by month
Ranchito sees roughly 163 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 25° | 10° |
| April | 65° | 47° | 27° |
| July | 88° | 70° | 51° |
| October | 68° | 48° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Ranchito
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ranchito
Schools across Ranchito average a D+, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ranchos De Taos ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Taos HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Penasco HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ranchito school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ranchito 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 Ranchito against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ranchito
Is Ranchito a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ranchito ranks 27,050th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, heat safety, and an educated workforce, and lowest on air quality and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ranchito expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $423,144. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $84,045 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Ranchito safe?
Ranchito is safer than 6% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $848 per resident a year.
Compare Ranchito with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ranchito. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ranchito 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.
Ranchito detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ranchito: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ranchito: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ranchito: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ranchito: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ranchito 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.