Best PlacesRio Arriba County, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rio Arriba 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.
Rio Arriba County ranks 2,658th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rio Arriba 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.
Rio Arriba County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rio Arriba County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 156 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of counties
- TransitBetter than 85% of counties
- QuietBetter than 80% of counties
Where Rio Arriba County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rio Arriba County
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rio Arriba County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,809, 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 Rio Arriba County's effective rate of 0.26%, 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 Rio Arriba County
Rio Arriba County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rio Arriba County.
Who works in Rio Arriba County, and how
Work in Rio Arriba County centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Rio Arriba County
Rio Arriba County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Rio Arriba County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Rio Arriba County growing, and who is moving in?
Rio Arriba County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Otero County, NM.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rio Arriba County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rio Arriba County, month by month
Rio Arriba County sees roughly 156 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Rio Arriba County
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rio Arriba County
Schools across Rio Arriba County average a D+, better than 18% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Guadalupe Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Antonito Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Los Alamos HighA · 70% proficient
- Pojoaque HighB · 50% proficient
- Taos HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rio Arriba County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rio Arriba 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 Rio Arriba County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Rio Arriba County suits
Common questions about living in Rio Arriba County
Is Rio Arriba County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rio Arriba County ranks 2,658th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, heat safety, and the weather, and lowest on internet speeds and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rio Arriba County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $246,882. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $60,809 median income, cost of living beats 20% of counties.
Is Rio Arriba County safe?
Rio Arriba County is safer than 4% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $911 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rio Arriba County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 24. That works out to about 156 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of counties.
Is Rio Arriba County good for families?
Schools beat 18% of counties, crime safety beats 4%, and childcare runs $750 a month.
Compare Rio Arriba County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rio Arriba County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rio Arriba 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.
Rio Arriba County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rio Arriba County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rio Arriba County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rio Arriba County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rio Arriba County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rio Arriba 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.