Finding a cheap place to live in New Mexico,can be challenging. Given New Mexico’s higher-than-average unemployment rate, you’ll need a solid job to navigate life here comfortably.
If you choose one of New Mexico’s most affordable places, you’ll free up cash for tickets to Santa Fe’s New Mexico Music Fan Fare or a road trip to Taos. We’re sure there isn’t a wrong place to park your alien mobile in the Land of Enchantment, but some areas are more affordable.
To determine the most affordable places in New Mexico, we used Saturday Night Science to look at Census and Zillow data for home prices, rents, and costs of living.
About 10.3 percent of New Mexico workers now work from home, the 35th-highest share in the country — our state-by-state commute breakdown shows what that flip did to carpooling.
$31,844 median income · $704 median rent · #1 home prices in New Mexico
Tucumcari is a great place to settle down if you’re looking for affordable living. With a median home value of $83,369 and a median rent of only $704, the cost of living in Tucumcari is relatively low compared to other cities in New Mexico.
Affordability isn’t the only reason to consider Tucumcari as your new home. This charming city boasts a population of 5,160 and is the county seat of Quay County. Founded in 1901, Tucumcari has a rich history and a vibrant culture. From its famous Route 66 landmarks to its annual Mesalands Community College’s Dinosaur Museum Powwow, there’s always something to see and do in Tucumcari.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$33,788 median income · $714 median rent · #3 home prices in New Mexico
Located in
Sierra County, New Mexico
You’d have a tough time finding a home in New Mexico for a cheaper price than you can get in Truth or Consequences. Homes here are the third lowest in the state, with a median price tag of $152,062. On top of that, renting in Truth or Consequences will only set you back $714/month, about half as much as the average rent in New Mexico.
Truth or Consequences is also home to the Riverbend Hot Springs, and we guarantee that once you sink yourself into some 100 degree water, financial concerns will be the last thing on your mind.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$34,165 median income · $586 median rent · #7 home prices in New Mexico
Located in
Luna County, New Mexico
Deming is the third most affordable city in New Mexico. It has the seventh lowest median home value at $163,668 and the second cheapest median rent at $586.
Located in Luna County, this hub of transport routes provides inexpensive living for its 15,221 residents. Deming delivers on dollars and sense when finding a cheap and fun place to live in New Mexico.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$47,183 median income · $783 median rent · #5 home prices in New Mexico
Located in
Cibola County, New Mexico
Located some 75 miles west down Route 66 from Albuquerque, Grants ranks as the fourth most affordable place to call home in New Mexico. We already named Grants as one of the best cities for families in New Mexico, so finding out it’s also the fourth most affordable place to live is like winning the lottery.
Grants is known as the Uranium Capital of the World, which you can learn more about at the world’s only simulated uranium mining museum. Outdoorsy folks will always have something to do for free in Grants as well, between the hikes around El Malpais National Monument or the wonderfully strange Ice Cave & Bandera Volcano.
The overall cost of living in Grants is 19% below the national average, but in terms of housing, the city is even cheaper than that. The median home price in Grants is $154,827, the fifth cheapest in New Mexico.
The median household income in Grants is $47,183, make it even easier to afford the finer things in life. If you want to give Grants a try without committing to a mortgage, the median rent here is a very reasonable $783.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$38,132 median income · $561 median rent · #16 home prices in New Mexico
Located in
Doña Ana County, New Mexico
Anthony, straddling the New Mexico/Texas line in the El Paso-Las Cruces region, boasts an overall cost of living 6.5% below the New Mexico average.
With a median home value at $235,806 and median rent at $561, it’s the fifth cheapest place to live in NM, offering budget-friendly living within reach of two major urban centers and Franklin Mountains State Park for some free fun.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$42,627 median income · $916 median rent · #21 home prices in New Mexico
Located in
Valencia County, New Mexico
Belen is the second most populous city in Valencia County, New Mexico, United States, after its county seat Los Lunas. The population was 7,152 in 2015 census data.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$45,125 median income · $792 median rent · #17 home prices in New Mexico
Located in
San Miguel County, New Mexico
Las Vegas is a city in and the county seat of San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities both named Las Vegas, west Las Vegas and east Las Vegas, separated by the Gallinas River, retain distinct characters and separate, rival school districts. The population was 14,565 at the 2000 census. Las Vegas, NM is located 110 miles south of Raton, New Mexico, 65 miles east of Santa Fe, New Mexico, 122 miles northeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 257 miles south of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and 326 miles south of Denver, Colorado.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$50,555 median income · $903 median rent · #2 home prices in New Mexico
Located in
Roosevelt County, New Mexico
Portales ranks as one of the most affordable places to live in New Mexico. With a median home value of $134,844 and a median rent of just $903, residents can expect to save money on housing costs compared to other cities in the state.
As the county seat of Roosevelt County, Portales has a population of 11,968 and is located near larger population centers like Clovis and the Cannon Air Force Base. This makes it an ideal location for those who want access to urban amenities while still enjoying the small town feel.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$51,583 median income · $876 median rent · #8 home prices in New Mexico
Located in
Chaves County, New Mexico
Roswell is the well-known for being the crash site of an alleged UFO in 1947, but the fifth biggest city in New Mexico has a lot more going on than conspiracy theories about aliens. Like being the ninth most affordable place to buy a home in the state, with a median home price of $173,067.
Slightly less affordable rent keeps Roswell from a spot in the top three, however. In any case, know that if you have no interest in learning about UFOs, Roswell has plenty of natural beauty around to keep you occupied (on a budget, no less).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$58,303 median income · $927 median rent · #12 home prices in New Mexico
Located in
McKinley County, New Mexico
Gallup ranks as the tenth cheapest place to live in New Mexico thanks to being an equally great place for renters and buyers. Gallup is the most diverse city in New Mexico with a 40% Native American population, including representatives from the Navajo, Zuni, and Hopi tribes. It’s also the place where residents pay the 12th lowest percentage of their income on housing, for both renting and buying. That’s with a median home price of $219,327 and a median rent of $927.
And don’t worry about being bored here; between the Chaco Culture National Park, the Navajo Code Talkers Museum, Red Rock Park, and Zuni Pueblo, there’s plenty of things to do in Gallup.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is New Mexico’s statewide median.
New Mexico statewide median: $316,750
New Mexico statewide median: $64,059
On the map
Where your money goes furthest in New Mexico
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most affordable places to live in the Land of Enchantment for 2026
Determining affordability for places in New Mexico boils down to how much it costs to live here.
You need to understand your costs relative to what people in the rest of the state are paying.
With that logic in mind, we derived several cost of living statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2020-2024 for New Mexico using Saturday Night Science. We indexed the cost of living statistics across the following categories:
- Housing
- Transportation
- Services
- Groceries
- Healthcare
- Utilities
These are then weighted together to produce an overall cost of living index where 100 is the United States average. Anything below 100 is relatively affordable. Anything over 100 is relatively expensive.
We applied the biggest weight to housing as it typically accounts for 25% or more of your budget. Additionally, housing costs are the highest variant cost across a state. We then compare these cost of living metrics for each place in New Mexico to figure out which is the least expensive.
The “Cost of Living Index” allows you to rank all of the 34 places in New Mexico that have more than 5,000 people from least expensive to most expensive. Any ties went to the larger city.
The place in New Mexico with the lowest cost of living according to the data is Tucumcari.
We updated this article for 2026. This report reflects our eleventh time ranking the cheapest places to live in New Mexico. The median New Mexico home is 41 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
Cheapest Places To Live In New Mexico
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Cost Of Living Index | Median Income | Home Prices | Rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tucumcari | 5,160 | 81 | $31,844 | $83,369 | $704 |
| 2 | Truth or Consequences | 6,019 | 83 | $33,788 | $152,062 | $714 |
| 3 | Deming | 15,221 | 84 | $34,165 | $163,668 | $586 |
| 4 | Grants | 8,951 | 85 | $47,183 | $154,827 | $783 |
| 5 | Anthony | 8,767 | 87 | $38,132 | $235,806 | $561 |
| 6 | Belen | 7,450 | 87 | $42,627 | $266,792 | $916 |
| 7 | Las Vegas | 13,000 | 88 | $45,125 | $241,426 | $792 |
| 8 | Portales | 11,968 | 88 | $50,555 | $134,844 | $903 |
| 9 | Roswell | 47,638 | 90 | $51,583 | $173,067 | $876 |
| 10 | Gallup | 21,023 | 90 | $58,303 | $219,327 | $927 |
| 11 | Lovington | 11,498 | 90 | $68,821 | $174,979 | $1,014 |
| 12 | Hobbs | 40,252 | 91 | $64,021 | $207,135 | $1,112 |
| 13 | Alamogordo | 31,307 | 91 | $55,952 | $223,173 | $902 |
| 14 | Socorro | 8,481 | 91 | $39,375 | $190,942 | $711 |
| 15 | Bloomfield | 7,395 | 91 | $48,472 | $252,908 | $984 |
| 16 | Clovis | 37,942 | 92 | $54,820 | $161,214 | $988 |
| 17 | Silver City | 9,536 | 92 | $38,711 | $225,704 | $866 |
| 18 | Las Cruces | 114,197 | 93 | $55,422 | $290,023 | $974 |
| 19 | Sunland Park | 17,463 | 93 | $62,814 | $223,741 | $920 |
| 20 | Raton | 6,026 | 93 | $52,641 | $152,896 | $741 |
| 21 | Aztec | 6,150 | 95 | $41,977 | $274,928 | $629 |
| 22 | Bernalillo | 9,086 | 96 | $63,880 | $347,987 | $902 |
| 23 | Carlsbad | 31,746 | 98 | $72,306 | $251,561 | $1,236 |
| 24 | Artesia | 12,576 | 98 | $74,915 | $245,540 | $1,288 |
| 25 | Farmington | 46,314 | 99 | $68,784 | $276,499 | $1,037 |
| 26 | Los Lunas | 18,618 | 99 | $62,330 | $324,074 | $1,110 |
| 27 | Rio Rancho | 108,515 | 100 | $89,596 | $361,856 | $1,514 |
| 28 | Ruidoso | 7,699 | 101 | $52,736 | $332,550 | $944 |
| 29 | Albuquerque | 562,218 | 102 | $68,317 | $344,457 | $1,145 |
| 30 | Edgewood | 6,124 | 103 | $84,761 | $382,908 | $1,114 |
| 31 | Taos | 6,458 | 107 | $47,304 | $439,303 | $883 |
| 32 | Santa Fe | 89,019 | 113 | $73,482 | $580,022 | $1,463 |
| 33 | Los Ranchos de Albuquerque | 5,857 | 127 | $72,992 | $705,207 | $1,061 |
| 34 | Corrales | 8,555 | 131 | $102,307 | $703,889 | $1,143 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, cost-of-living data. 34 places with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
New Mexico Affordability Summary
This is an accurate list of the most affordable places to live in New Mexico for 2026, if you’re looking at the cost of living numbers in New Mexico.
The cheapest cities in New Mexico are Tucumcari, Truth or Consequences, Deming, Grants, Anthony, Belen, Las Vegas, Portales, Roswell, and Gallup. Not sold on New Mexico? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Most Affordable Places To Live In New Mexico FAQs
What is the cheapest place to live in New Mexico?
Tucumcari is the cheapest place to live in New Mexico for 2026. It posts the lowest Cost of Living Index of the 34 places we analyzed; Truth or Consequences and Deming are next.
How cheap is housing in Tucumcari?
The median home value in Tucumcari is $83,369, versus $316,750 statewide, and the median rent is $704. Housing carries the biggest weight in our cost of living index, and it is the main reason Tucumcari takes the top spot.
What are the most affordable places to live in New Mexico?
The most affordable places to live in New Mexico are Tucumcari, Truth or Consequences, and Deming. We ranked all 34 places with more than 5,000 residents on housing, transportation, services, groceries, healthcare, and utilities costs; the full top ten is in the table above.
What is the most expensive place to live in New Mexico?
Corrales is the most expensive place to live in New Mexico. It ranks last of the 34 places we scored on the Cost of Living Index, and the other priciest spots are listed next to the summary above.
How do you measure the cost of living in New Mexico?
We index cost of living data from the Census American Community Survey across housing, transportation, services, groceries, healthcare, and utilities, with housing weighted heaviest since it eats the biggest share of a budget. A score of 100 is the national average; anything under 100 counts as affordable.
