State rental market analysis · NM
New Mexico rental markets
12 tracked cities over 20,000 population, 11 ranked and summarized by their median Overall. Every number traces to Census, Zillow and BLS. All states ranked →
Browse every New Mexico ZIP Code area → · the full server-rendered index for this state.
Part of the Mountain Census division (West region).
The honest read
New Mexico ranks #20 of 51 states for rental investing, with a median Overall of 50.8/100 across its ranked cities, above the national median. 11 ranked cities roll up into this grade.
A state grade is the median of its ranked cities, a screen for where to look, not underwriting. Open any city below for its full shown-math breakdown, or run a specific deal through the cap rate and cash-flow calculators.
Where it ranks, factor by factor
Every value is the median across the 11 ranked cities in this state. The national rank compares all 51 states on that one factor; the engine already flips inverted factors (affordability, low unemployment) so a better rank always means a better market. Each factor sits in one of the model’s three categories (Cash Flow, Growth, or Stability); this is a representative summary, and the full thirteen-factor breakdown is on each city’s page. Full methodology.
| Factor | Category | State value | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross rent yield | Cash Flow | 5.8% | not measured |
| Rent growth | Growth | 4.3% | not measured |
| Home value growth | Growth | 4.0% | not measured |
| Population growth | Growth | 0.3% | not measured |
| Job growth | Growth | 0.8% | not measured |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 5.1× | not measured |
| Unemployment | Stability | 3.5% | not measured |
| Rental demand | Stability | 37% renters · 585.3% vacancy | not measured |
| Income growth | Growth | 5.3% | not measured |
Every city in New Mexico, ranked
Led by Rio Rancho at 63/100. Click any column to re-sort; every city links to its full shown-math breakdown.
| NM rank | City | Grade | Cash Flow | Growth | Stability | Typical home value | Gross yield | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rio Rancho | 63 | B | A | D | $364,155 | 6.2% | #204 |
| 2 | Hobbs | 61 | A | C | C | $216,854 | 8.0% | #268 |
| 3 | Carlsbad | 61 | A | D | B | $254,019 | 7.8% | #286 |
| 4 | Las Cruces | 59 | B | B | C | $291,232 | 5.9% | #330 |
| 5 | Clovis | 51 | A | D | C | $163,292 | 9.3% | #713 |
| 6 | Roswell | 51 | A | D | C | $177,920 | 8.6% | #716 |
| 7 | Alamogordo | 50 | A | D | D | $222,125 | 8.4% | #763 |
| 8 | Albuquerque | 44 | C | C | C | $348,417 | 5.1% | #1093 |
| 9 med | Gallup | 42 | A | F | C | $220,228 | 7.6% | #1170 |
| 10 | Farmington | 39 | C | D | D | $286,908 | 5.5% | #1315 |
| 11 | Santa Fe | 37 | D | C | B | $591,316 | 3.8% | #1389 |
Data as of: Zillow ZHVI/ZORI through the latest monthly release · Census ACS 5-yr 2019–2023 · Census PEP July 2024 · BLS LAUS county 2023 annual. Generated 2026-09-01. Methodology & limitations · underwrite any specific deal with the free calculators.
Limited-data cities in New Mexico
These 1 cities lack enough measured factors to rank, so they are excluded from the state grade; their pages show exactly what could be measured.
ZIP markets in New Mexico
372 Census ZIP Codes (ZCTAs) in New Mexico · 115 data-eligible for subscores. These are sub-city government areas ranked separately from the New Mexico city table. The overall Rental Investor ZIP Score leaderboard leads; the two component subscores (affordability, rental-market context) follow as independent percentiles. ZIP ranks are shown within the ZIP universe only, never mixed with, and not directly comparable to, city ranks. Vintage: the Key metric column is Census ACS 2020–2024 (5-year), a newer release than the ACS 2019–2023 figures the city table above uses; the same measure can legitimately disagree between the two.
Best overall ZIP Codes in New Mexico
Ranked by the overall Rental Investor ZIP Score. The # is each ZIP Code's canonical NM state rank; the smaller figure is its national rank. Separate from the New Mexico city table and not directly comparable to it.
| NM rank | ZIP Code | Overallgrade · national | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 87144Rio Rancho | A 70#596 nat | 6.3%Survey yield |
| #2 | 87124Rio Rancho Estates | A 69#639 nat | 5.8%Survey yield |
| #3 | 87031Los Lunas | A 67#1,071 nat | 5.5%Survey yield |
| #4 | 87035McIntosh | A 67#1,093 nat | 6.9%Survey yield |
| #5 | 88012Las Cruces | A 66#1,279 nat | 6.4%Survey yield |
| #6 | 87002Belen | A 66#1,447 nat | 6.2%Survey yield |
| #7 | 88001Las Cruces | A 65#1,618 nat | 5.9%Survey yield |
| #8 | 87016Estancia | B 64#1,765 nat | 8.3%Survey yield |
| #8 | 87544Los Alamos | A 64#1,765 nat | 3.3%Survey yield |
| #10 | 88011Las Cruces | A 64#1,968 nat | 4.1%Survey yield |
| #11 | 87043Placitas | B 64#2,089 nat | 5.8%Survey yield |
| #12 | 88005Las Cruces | B 61#3,012 nat | 4.8%Survey yield |
Top affordability ZIP Codes in New Mexico
State-scoped leaders on the affordability subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Substantially an inverse housing-cost signal: a component of the overall score, not a predicted return.
| # | ZIP Code | Affordability | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 86515Tse Bonito | 100#1 nat | 15.4%Survey yield |
| 2 | 88252Jal | 99#13 nat | 16.2%Survey yield |
| 3 | 87034Skyline-Ganipa | 98#40 nat | 11.8%Survey yield |
| 4 | 87416Upper Fruitland | 96#91 nat | 10.6%Survey yield |
| 5 | 87364Sheep Springs | 96#98 nat | 10.5%Survey yield |
| 6 | 87313Crownpoint | 96#102 nat | 10.4%Survey yield |
| 7 | 87327Zuni Pueblo | 96#106 nat | 10.3%Survey yield |
| 8 | 87528Dulce | 95#118 nat | 10.1%Survey yield |
| 9 | 88072Vado | 94#163 nat | 9.2%Survey yield |
| 10 | 88256Loving | 91#320 nat | 7.3%Survey yield |
| 11 | 88045Lordsburg | 90#371 nat | 9.7%Survey yield |
| 12 | 87016Estancia | 89#385 nat | 8.3%Survey yield |
Deepest rental-market ZIP Codes in New Mexico
State-scoped leaders on the rental-market-context subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Rental depth/tightness: a separate component, never combined here with affordability.
| # | ZIP Code | Rental market | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 87301Gallup | 79#368 nat | 6.6%Survey yield |
| 2 | 87010Los Cerrillos | 77#529 nat | 3.6%Survey yield |
| 3 | 87420Shiprock | 76#711 nat | 8.0%Survey yield |
| 4 | 88001Las Cruces | 75#916 nat | 5.9%Survey yield |
| 5 | 88346Ruidoso Downs | 74#1,042 nat | 7.2%Survey yield |
| 6 | 88005Las Cruces | 73#1,201 nat | 4.8%Survey yield |
| 7 | 87528Dulce | 72#1,523 nat | 10.1%Survey yield |
| 8 | 87714Cimarron | 71#1,627 nat | 5.9%Survey yield |
| 9 | 88267Tatum | 71#1,686 nat | 10.2%Survey yield |
| 10 | 87102Albuquerque | 71#1,711 nat | 5.6%Survey yield |
| 11 | 87501Santa Fe | 71#1,738 nat | 2.9%Survey yield |
| 12 | 88063Sunland Park | 70#1,984 nat | 9.2%Survey yield |