Best PlacesSanta Fe County, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Santa Fe County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Santa Fe County ranks 853rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on air quality and crime. It does better on the weather, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Santa Fe County
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.
The best areas in Santa Fe County
The parts of Santa Fe County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Eldorado at Santa Fe
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and health care is easier to reach.
Santa Fe
Biking is better, though it is noisier.
Edgewood & La Cienega
More households have young kids, though commutes are longer.
Espanola
More homes sit empty and schools score lower.
Santa Fe County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Santa Fe County's strengths and weaknesses
Santa Fe County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. The weather, an educated workforce, and population health carry most of that.
The one real hole is air quality, near the bottom of the country. Crime and state infrastructure also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Santa Fe County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 166 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of counties
- BikingBetter than 94% of counties
- TransitBetter than 92% of counties
Where Santa Fe County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 22% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 24% of counties
- Cheap childcare$933 a month, better than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Santa Fe County
A household needs to earn about $123,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Santa Fe County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,653, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Fe County's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 Santa Fe County
Santa Fe County 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 Santa Fe County.
Who works in Santa Fe County, and how
Work in Santa Fe County centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Santa Fe County
Santa Fe County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of counties and more parkland per resident than 69% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Santa Fe County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Santa Fe County growing, and who is moving in?
Santa Fe County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Albuquerque, NM.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Santa Fe County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Santa Fe County, month by month
Santa Fe County sees roughly 166 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 31° | 19° |
| April | 71° | 52° | 33° |
| July | 92° | 75° | 58° |
| October | 71° | 54° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Santa Fe County
The nearest airport, Santa Fe Regional, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Santa Fe County
Schools across Santa Fe County average a C+, better than 65% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Carlos Gilbert ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- El Dorado Community SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Wood-gormley ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Mandela International Magnet (mims)A · 75% proficient
- Nm School For The ArtsA− · 60% proficient
- Santa Fe HighB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Santa Fe County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Santa Fe County 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 Fe County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Santa Fe County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 70% of counties and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Santa Fe County
Is Santa Fe County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Santa Fe County ranks 853rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, an educated workforce, and population health, and lowest on air quality and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Santa Fe County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $494,976. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $82,653 median income, cost of living beats 70% of counties.
Is Santa Fe County safe?
Santa Fe County is safer than 7% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $827 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Santa Fe County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 19. That works out to about 166 pleasant days a year, more than 96% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Santa Fe County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Eldorado at Santa Fe, Santa Fe, and Edgewood & La Cienega. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Santa Fe County good for families?
Schools beat 65% of counties, crime safety beats 7%, and childcare runs $933 a month.
Is Santa Fe County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 70% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 38% of counties. About 19% of workers already work from home.
Compare Santa Fe County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Santa Fe County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Santa Fe County 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 Fe County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Santa Fe County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Santa Fe County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Santa Fe County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Santa Fe County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Santa Fe County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.