Best PlacesSan Miguel, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around San Miguel, 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 Miguel ranks 37,992nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in San Miguel
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 Miguel's strengths and weaknesses
Where San Miguel ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 169 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- BikingBetter than 72% of towns
Where San Miguel ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 4% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- Short commute39.6 minutes each way, better than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in San Miguel
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Miguel home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,079, 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 Miguel's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 San Miguel
San Miguel's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for San Miguel.
Who works in San Miguel, and how
Work in San Miguel centers on agriculture & forestry and admin & support services. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in San Miguel
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across San Miguel.
What the weather is like in San Miguel, month by month
San Miguel sees roughly 169 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 43° | 31° |
| April | 81° | 65° | 48° |
| July | 98° | 83° | 70° |
| October | 80° | 64° | 50° |
Flying in and out of San Miguel
The nearest airport, El Paso International, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 200 miles away.
The best schools in and around San Miguel
Schools across San Miguel average a D+, better than 16% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Gadsden MiddleF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Alta Vista Early College High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Miguel school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Miguel 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 Miguel against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in San Miguel
Is San Miguel a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Miguel ranks 37,992nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and quiet, and lowest on a weak job market and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Miguel expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $193,883. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $69,079 median income, cost of living beats 53% of towns.
Is San Miguel safe?
San Miguel is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $588 per resident a year.
Compare San Miguel with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Miguel. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Miguel 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 Miguel detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Miguel: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Miguel: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Miguel: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Miguel: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Miguel 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.