Best PlacesSofia, NM Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sofia, 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.
Sofia ranks 28,594th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sofia
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.
Sofia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sofia ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 148 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 80% of towns
Where Sofia ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sofia
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sofia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,958, 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 Sofia's effective rate of 0.30%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sofia
Sofia runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Sofia.
Who works in Sofia, and how
Work in Sofia centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Sofia
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sofia.
What the weather is like in Sofia, month by month
Sofia sees roughly 148 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 35° | 21° |
| April | 72° | 53° | 36° |
| July | 92° | 76° | 61° |
| October | 74° | 55° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Sofia
The nearest airport, San Luis Valley Regional/Bergman Field, is about 134 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Albuquerque International Sunport, about 183 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sofia
Schools across Sofia average an A−, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Roy ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Des Moines ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Maxwell ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
Top middle schools
- Maxwell MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Des Moines HighA− · 65% proficient
- Maxwell HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Clayton HighD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sofia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sofia 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 Sofia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sofia
Is Sofia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sofia ranks 28,594th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, low property taxes, and the weather, and lowest on tree cover and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sofia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,500. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $73,958 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Sofia safe?
Sofia is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,026 per resident a year.
Compare Sofia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sofia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sofia 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.
Sofia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sofia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sofia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sofia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sofia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sofia 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.