Best PlacesSan Francisco Plaza, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around San Francisco Plaza, 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.
San Francisco Plaza ranks 47,664th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in San Francisco Plaza
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.
San Francisco Plaza's strengths and weaknesses
Where San Francisco Plaza ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 161 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 80% of towns
- Short commute23.5 minutes each way, better than 72% of towns
Where San Francisco Plaza ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$34,899 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in San Francisco Plaza
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Francisco Plaza home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $34,899; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 San Francisco Plaza's effective rate of 0.28%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in San Francisco Plaza
San Francisco Plaza 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 San Francisco Plaza.
Who works in San Francisco Plaza, and how
Work in San Francisco Plaza centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in San Francisco Plaza
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across San Francisco Plaza.
What the weather is like in San Francisco Plaza, month by month
San Francisco Plaza sees roughly 161 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 34° | 17° |
| April | 73° | 55° | 35° |
| July | 93° | 77° | 60° |
| October | 75° | 56° | 36° |
Flying in and out of San Francisco Plaza
The nearest airport, Show Low Regional, is about 81 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 154 miles away.
The best schools in and around San Francisco Plaza
Schools across San Francisco Plaza average a C, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Reserve ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Reserve HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Francisco Plaza school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Francisco Plaza 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 San Francisco Plaza against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in San Francisco Plaza
Is San Francisco Plaza a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Francisco Plaza ranks 47,664th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, low property taxes, and the weather, and lowest on internet speeds and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Francisco Plaza expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $143,950. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $34,899 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is San Francisco Plaza safe?
San Francisco Plaza is safer than 5% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $976 per resident a year.
Compare San Francisco Plaza with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Francisco Plaza. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Francisco Plaza 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.
San Francisco Plaza detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Francisco Plaza: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Francisco Plaza: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Francisco Plaza: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Francisco Plaza: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Francisco Plaza 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.