Best PlacesRanchvale, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ranchvale, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ranchvale ranks 22,303rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ranchvale
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.
Ranchvale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ranchvale ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of towns
- Short commute17.9 minutes each way, better than 93% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of towns
- QuietBetter than 86% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of towns
Where Ranchvale ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 11% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ranchvale
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ranchvale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $72,152, 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 Ranchvale's effective rate of 0.47%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Ranchvale
Ranchvale runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ranchvale.
Who works in Ranchvale, and how
Work in Ranchvale centers on education and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Ranchvale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ranchvale.
What the weather is like in Ranchvale, month by month
Ranchvale sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 37° | 24° |
| April | 76° | 58° | 40° |
| July | 95° | 79° | 65° |
| October | 76° | 59° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Ranchvale
The nearest airport, Clovis Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 190 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ranchvale
Schools across Ranchvale average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top high schools
- Clovis HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Melrose HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ranchvale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ranchvale 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 Ranchvale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ranchvale
Is Ranchvale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ranchvale ranks 22,303rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, short commutes, and population health, 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 Ranchvale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $341,880. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $72,152 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Ranchvale safe?
Ranchvale is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $437 per resident a year.
Compare Ranchvale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ranchvale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ranchvale 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.
Ranchvale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ranchvale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ranchvale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ranchvale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ranchvale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ranchvale 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.