Best PlacesSheep Springs, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sheep Springs, 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.
Sheep Springs ranks 49,877th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sheep Springs
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.
Sheep Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Sheep Springs ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 152 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
Where Sheep Springs ranks low
- Short commute50.3 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$28,666 median, better than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sheep Springs
A household needs to earn about $18,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sheep Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $28,666, 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 Sheep Springs' effective rate of 0.03%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sheep Springs
Sheep Springs runs younger 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 Sheep Springs.
Who works in Sheep Springs, and how
Work in Sheep Springs centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sheep Springs
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sheep Springs.
What the weather is like in Sheep Springs, month by month
Sheep Springs sees roughly 152 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 29° | 12° |
| April | 68° | 49° | 28° |
| July | 91° | 73° | 53° |
| October | 71° | 50° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Sheep Springs
The nearest airport, Cortez Municipal, is about 79 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 141 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sheep Springs
Schools across Sheep Springs average a D, better than 6% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Naschitti ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Newcomb ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newcomb MiddleD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Newcomb HighF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sheep Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sheep Springs 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 Sheep Springs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sheep Springs
Is Sheep Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sheep Springs ranks 49,877th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, low property taxes, and a stable housing market, and lowest on long commutes and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sheep Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $74,940. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $28,666 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Sheep Springs safe?
Sheep Springs is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,026 per resident a year.
Compare Sheep Springs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sheep Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sheep Springs 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.
Sheep Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sheep Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sheep Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sheep Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sheep Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sheep Springs 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.