Best PlacesRanchos de Taos, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ranchos de Taos, 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.
Ranchos de Taos ranks 39,046th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ranchos de Taos
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.
Ranchos de Taos' strengths and weaknesses
Where Ranchos de Taos ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 164 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 91% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Ranchos de Taos ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ranchos de Taos
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ranchos de Taos home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $65,666, 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 Ranchos de Taos' effective rate of 0.37%, 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 Ranchos de Taos
Ranchos de Taos runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ranchos de Taos.
Who works in Ranchos de Taos, and how
Work in Ranchos de Taos centers on public administration and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ranchos de Taos
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ranchos de Taos.
What the weather is like in Ranchos de Taos, month by month
Ranchos de Taos sees roughly 164 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 Ranchos de Taos
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 58 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 107 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ranchos de Taos
Schools across Ranchos de Taos average a D+, better than 18% 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 Ranchos de Taos school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ranchos de Taos 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 Ranchos de Taos against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ranchos de Taos
Is Ranchos de Taos a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ranchos de Taos ranks 39,046th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, transit, and cell coverage, and lowest on crime and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ranchos de Taos expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $367,465. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $65,666 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Ranchos de Taos safe?
Ranchos de Taos is safer than 6% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $867 per resident a year.
Compare Ranchos de Taos with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ranchos de Taos. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ranchos de Taos 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.
Ranchos de Taos detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ranchos de Taos: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ranchos de Taos: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ranchos de Taos: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ranchos de Taos: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ranchos de Taos 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.