Metro area · New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM metro area

Albuquerque, NM is a metropolitan area of 4 counties in New Mexico, home to 925,279 residents. Albuquerque, NM metro area has a quality-of-life score of 39 out of 100 (low), ranking #564 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in New Mexico it ranks #5 of 17. It ranks best on new business applications (high), distance to an airport (low) and preventable hospital stays (low). It ranks worst on violent crime rate (high), property crime rate (high) and drug overdose deaths (high).

39Low
Quality-of-life score
#564 of 925 metro and micro areas
New Mexico
#5 of 17 in NM
Population
925,279 (2025)
Land area
9,283 mi²
Density
99.7 /mi²
CBSA code
10740

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of Albuquerque, NM metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety3#893/924
  • Economy53#437/925
  • Housing19#750/925
  • Health48#477/925
  • Healthcare76#224/923
  • Environment31#629/917
  • Education74#243/925
  • Infrastructure57#400/925
  • Community42#535/925
  • Leisure & amenities30#652/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Albuquerque, NM metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Metro and micro areas like Albuquerque, NM metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Albuquerque, NM metro area in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in Albuquerque, NM

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Bernalillo CountyCentral county42667,601
  2. Sandoval CountyCentral county51159,565
  3. Valencia CountyOutlying county682,013
  4. Torrance CountyOutlying county516,100

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. AlbuquerquePrincipal city562,218

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. Albuquerque562,218
  2. Rio Rancho108,515
  3. South Valley37,120
  4. Los Lunas18,618
  5. North Valley10,455
  6. Bernalillo9,086
  7. Corrales8,555
  8. Belen7,450
  9. Los Ranchos de Albuquerque5,857
  10. El Cerro Mission5,323
  11. Rio Communities4,925
  12. Los Chaves4,838
  13. Paradise Hills4,591
  14. Meadow Lake4,259
  15. Placitas4,223
  16. Bosque Farms4,071
  17. Kirtland AFB3,413
  18. Peralta3,404
  19. Sandia Heights3,160
  20. El Cerro2,923
  21. Valencia2,406
  22. Santo Domingo Pueblo2,370
  23. Jemez Pueblo2,199
  24. Jarales2,144

Other metro and micro areas in New Mexico

Areas based in New Mexico, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M10740