Best PlacesSan Rafael, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around San Rafael, 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 Rafael ranks 20,699th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in San Rafael
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 Rafael's strengths and weaknesses
Where San Rafael ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 160 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of towns
Where San Rafael ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in San Rafael
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Rafael home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,566, 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 Rafael's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 7 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 Rafael
San Rafael runs older than the country, 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 Rafael.
Who works in San Rafael, and how
Work in San Rafael centers on agriculture & forestry and other services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in San Rafael
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across San Rafael.
What the weather is like in San Rafael, month by month
San Rafael sees roughly 160 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 30° | 14° |
| April | 70° | 50° | 29° |
| July | 90° | 73° | 54° |
| October | 72° | 51° | 32° |
Flying in and out of San Rafael
Albuquerque International Sunport sits about 72 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 69 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around San Rafael
Schools across San Rafael average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mount Taylor ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- San Rafael ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Milan ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Rafael school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Rafael 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 Rafael against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in San Rafael
Is San Rafael a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Rafael ranks 20,699th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, the weather, and low disaster risk, and lowest on crime and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Rafael expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $173,691. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $87,566 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is San Rafael safe?
San Rafael is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,272 per resident a year.
Compare San Rafael with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Rafael. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Rafael 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 Rafael detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Rafael: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Rafael: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Rafael: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Rafael: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Rafael 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.