Best PlacesSan Jose, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around San Jose, 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 Jose ranks 31,053rd 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 San Jose
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 Jose's strengths and weaknesses
Where San Jose ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 148 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Household income$102,906 median, better than 86% of towns
Where San Jose ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 11% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in San Jose
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Jose home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $102,906, 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 San Jose's effective rate of 0.38%, 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 8 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 Jose
San Jose 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 Jose.
Who works in San Jose, and how
Work in San Jose centers on public administration and admin & support services. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in San Jose
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across San Jose.
What the weather is like in San Jose, month by month
San Jose sees roughly 148 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 32° | 18° |
| April | 67° | 49° | 31° |
| July | 87° | 69° | 54° |
| October | 69° | 52° | 36° |
Flying in and out of San Jose
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around San Jose
Schools across San Jose average a C−, better than 31% of towns.
Top high schools
- Pecos HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Jose school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Jose 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 Jose against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in San Jose
Is San Jose a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Jose ranks 31,053rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, low property taxes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on crime and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Jose expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $221,224. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $102,906 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is San Jose safe?
San Jose is safer than 3% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,058 per resident a year.
Compare San Jose with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Jose. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Jose 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 Jose detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Jose: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Jose: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Jose: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Jose: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Jose 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.