Best PlacesSanta Cruz, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Santa Cruz, 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.
Santa Cruz ranks 42,485th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Santa Cruz
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.
Santa Cruz's strengths and weaknesses
Where Santa Cruz ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 179 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 90% of towns
Where Santa Cruz ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Santa Cruz
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Santa Cruz home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,933, 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 Santa Cruz's effective rate of 0.41%, 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 Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Santa Cruz.
Who works in Santa Cruz, and how
Work in Santa Cruz centers on arts & entertainment and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Santa Cruz
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Santa Cruz.
What the weather is like in Santa Cruz, month by month
Santa Cruz sees roughly 179 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 Santa Cruz
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 73 miles away.
The best schools in and around Santa Cruz
Schools across Santa Cruz average a D, better than 14% of towns.
Top high schools
- Pojoaque HighB · 50% proficient
- Espanola Valley HighD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Santa Cruz school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Santa Cruz
Is Santa Cruz a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Santa Cruz ranks 42,485th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, the weather, and transit, and lowest on a weak job market and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Santa Cruz expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $223,700. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $57,933 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Santa Cruz safe?
Santa Cruz is safer than 7% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $811 per resident a year.
Compare Santa Cruz with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Santa Cruz. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Santa Cruz 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.
Santa Cruz detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Santa Cruz: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Santa Cruz: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Santa Cruz: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Santa Cruz: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Santa Cruz 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.