The book's checklist
- Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 14.1% below the U.S. average in the parts of New Mexico outside metro areas.
- More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
- A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
- Schools in town6 public schools: 3 elementary, 1 middle, 1 high school and 1 other.
- A hospital close byLos Alamos Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
- Within reach of a big cityDenver is about 278 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.
A check means Los Alamos meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.
For a lifetime
Homes and money
- Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
- $501,800U.S.: $332,700
- Home prices since then
- Up 20%Los Alamos County, 2022 to 2025
- Typical rent, with utilities
- $1,359 a monthU.S.: $1,413
- Typical household income
- $141,018U.S.: $80,734
- Homes owned by the people living in them
- 67%U.S.: 65%
- Typical property tax bill
- $2,749 a yearNew Mexico: $1,731
- Homes built before 1940
- 0%U.S.: 12%
- Homes built since 2010
- 7%U.S.: 11%
- Vacation and seasonal homes
- 2%U.S.: 3%
- Everyday prices
- 85.9U.S. average = 100 (the parts of New Mexico outside metro areas)
Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 20% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of New Mexico outside metro areas, not Los Alamos alone. Check current listings before you budget.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
The people
- Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
- 13,317The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
- Median age
- 38.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
- Age 65 and older
- 17%U.S.: 17%
- Under 18
- 20%U.S.: 22%
- Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
- 70%U.S.: 36%
- Moved here from another county or state in the past year
- 11%U.S.: 6%
- College students
- 5%share of all residents
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Work
- Biggest lines of work
- Professional and business services (56%); schools, health care and social services (17%); government (5%)
- Unemployment rate
- 1%U.S.: 5%
- Average commute
- 12 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
- Work from home
- 17%U.S.: 15%
- Below the poverty line
- 4%U.S.: 12%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Health care
Nearest emergency room: Los Alamos Medical Center, Los Alamos, NM, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.
Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.
Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.
Schools
6 public schools in Los Alamos, run by Los Alamos.
Colleges in or next to town: University of New Mexico-Los Alamos Campus (under 1,000 students).
See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on New Mexico's school report card.
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.
Internet
- Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
- 83%U.S.: 76%
- Homes with any internet subscription
- 95%U.S.: 91%
Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Weather
- January average low
- 20°F
- July average high
- 82°F
- Days 90°F or hotter
- 5 a year
- Nights at or below freezing
- 150 a year
- Rain and melted snow
- 17.5 inches a year
- Snow
- 42 inches a year
- Elevation
- 7,322 feet
Weather station: Los Alamos (3 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.
Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.
Getting around
Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Santa Fe, Denver.
Los Alamos County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).
For a day
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and Bandelier National Monument. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.
National Park Service sites within about an hour:
- Bandelier National Monument4 miles
- Manhattan Project National Historical Park4 miles
- Valles Caldera National Preserve6 miles
- Pecos National Historical Park35 miles
- Petroglyph National Monument53 miles
Read about Los Alamos's history on Wikipedia.
Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.
Nearby
Straight-line miles.
Small towns
- White Rock, NM5,700 people, 7 miles
- La Mesilla, NM2,700 people, 13 miles
- Española, NM10,500 people, 14 miles
- Agua Fria, NM2,900 people, 22 miles
- La Cienega, NM3,500 people, 24 miles
- Eldorado at Santa Fe, NM5,600 people, 32 miles
Smaller places
- San Ildefonso Pueblo, NM (unincorporated)737 people, 9 miles
- El Rancho, NM (unincorporated)1,451 people, 11 miles
- Santa Clara Pueblo, NM (unincorporated)733 people, 12 miles
- Jaconita, NM (unincorporated)268 people, 13 miles
- Jacona, NM (unincorporated)412 people, 14 miles
- San Jose, NM (unincorporated)776 people, 14 miles
- Hernandez, NM (unincorporated)769 people, 15 miles
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
- Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
- National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
- National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
- U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
- National Park Service, park unit boundaries
- USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas
Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.