New Mexico cities

The best places to live in New Mexico

New Mexico's largest cities ranked on cost, safety, schools, jobs and quality of life. Carlsbad leads the list.

We scored New Mexico's cities on the same factors as our state rankings, then ranked them. Below are the 10 largest by population. Two scores per city: value (what you get for the cost) and overall livability (everything combined). Tap any city for its full profile.

#CityMedian homeRentValueOverall
1 Carlsbad $159,500 $1,112 92 88
3 Rio Rancho $211,300 $1,181 58 60
4 Albuquerque $214,600 $932 39 55
5 Clovis $137,000 $886 52 55
7 Farmington $186,700 $921 44 51
10 Hobbs $146,300 $982 52 44
11 Roswell $112,500 $831 59 40
12 Santa Fe $312,300 $1,199 27 35
13 South Valley $157,900 $781 33 34
14 Las Cruces $167,800 $824 22 23

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Sources: Home prices and rent from Zillow; income and jobs from the U.S. Census; schools from state education data; crime from the FBI; air quality from the EPA. Rankings are within New Mexico. Updated 2026.