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Towns / New Mexico

Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico

Ranchos de Taos is an unincorporated community of about 2,500 people in Taos County, New Mexico, about 7,000 feet above sea level. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Denver, is about 238 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,536
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$349,700
Taos County prices up 23% since 2022
Prices, rural New Mexico
85.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
2 miles
Taos, NM
To Denver
238 mi
straight line

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 moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Ranchos de Taos to say.
  • 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 town5 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle and 2 high schools.
  • A hospital close byHoly Cross Hospital A Div of Taos Health Systems in Taos, about 2 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityDenver is about 238 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 Ranchos de Taos 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
$349,700U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 23%Taos County, 2022 to 2025
Typical property tax bill
$967 a yearNew Mexico: $1,731
Homes built before 1940
4%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
0%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
8%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 23% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of New Mexico outside metro areas, not Ranchos de Taos 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
2,536The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
31.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
21%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
37%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
46%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Below the poverty line
10%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Holy Cross Hospital A Div of Taos Health Systems, Taos, NM, about 2 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 1 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Presbyterian Espanola Hospital, Espanola, NM, about 37 miles away. 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

5 public schools in Ranchos de Taos, run by Taos and Taos International School.

Colleges in or next to town: University of New Mexico-Taos 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 any internet subscription
96%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
12°F
July average high
86°F
Days 90°F or hotter
23 a year
Nights at or below freezing
183 a year
Rain and melted snow
12.7 inches a year
Snow
28 inches a year
Elevation
6,976 feet

Weather station: Taos (2 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: Holy Cross Hospital A Div of Taos Health Systems, Santa Fe, Denver.

Taos County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, not next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 7, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church and Ranchos de Taos Plaza. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Fort Union National Monument44 miles
  • Bandelier National Monument48 miles
  • Manhattan Project National Historical Park51 miles
  • Valles Caldera National Preserve53 miles
  • Pecos National Historical Park55 miles

Read about Ranchos de Taos's history on Wikipedia.

Know Ranchos de Taos?

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

Smaller places

  • Talpa, NM (unincorporated)955 people, 2 miles
  • Taos Pueblo, NM (unincorporated)1,129 people, 7 miles
  • Arroyo Seco, NM (unincorporated)2,112 people, 11 miles
  • Vadito, NM (unincorporated)264 people, 12 miles
  • Rio Lucio, NM (unincorporated)485 people, 13 miles
  • Peñasco, NM (unincorporated)546 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. 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.