Albuquerque, NM
Albuquerque, NM Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Albuquerque, NM Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Albuquerque ranks 156th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 146th for income. A household earns $76,097 a year while median rent runs $1,220/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 4% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (103rd of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (286th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 140th and home prices 164th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Albuquerque, your take-home is worth about $61,685 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 146th of 300↑30.1%$76,097
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 159th of 30096 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $79,644
- Per-capita income
- $41,332
- Full-time pay
- $42,476
Housing
- Median rent
- 140th of 300↑33.2%$1,220/mo
- Home value
- 164th of 300↑56.7%$322,700
- Property tax
- $2,520/yr · 0.8%
- Sales tax
- 7.63%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 216th of 3005.1%
- Bachelor's+
- 120th of 30035.9%
- Avg commute
- 202nd of 30025.6 min
People
- Population
- 929,919
- Population change
- +1.7%
- Median age
- 40.2 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 10.3%
- Broadband
- 91.9%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 286th of 30061
- Natural-hazard loss
- 103rd of 300$11/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 225th of 30021%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 14.5%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- —
Watch-outs
- – Job market
- – Commute
- – Air quality
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — albuquerque intl ap.
What jobs pay in Albuquerque
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $185,200
- Pharmacists
- $147,000
- Financial managers
- $140,110
- IT managers
- $139,530
- Software developers
- $123,700
- Lawyers
- $114,610
- Civil engineers
- $105,080
- Registered nurses
- $96,040
- General & operations managers
- $94,640
- Accountants & auditors
- $79,880
- Web developers
- $77,920
- Secondary school teachers
- $76,960
- Elementary school teachers
- $75,520
- Police officers
- $73,380
- Plumbers
- $63,900
- Carpenters
- $60,080
- Electricians
- $59,120
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $55,840
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $46,900
- Customer service reps
- $41,790
- Construction laborers
- $40,440
- Waiters & waitresses
- $38,050
- Janitors
- $35,450
- Retail salespersons
- $34,160
- Cashiers
- $30,540
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Albuquerque metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in New Mexico are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- California4,354
- Texas3,516
- Colorado2,187
- Arizona1,593
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Albuquerque
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Albuquerque metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Albuquerque metro?
- Median gross rent across the Albuquerque, NM Metro Area is $1,220 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Albuquerque.
- What is the median household income in the Albuquerque metro?
- A typical household in the Albuquerque, NM Metro Area earns $76,097 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Albuquerque expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Albuquerque, NM Metro Area runs about 4% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Albuquerque metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $79,644 (versus its face value of $76,097). CityLedger rates the Albuquerque, NM Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Albuquerque metro?
- The median home value across the Albuquerque, NM Metro Area is $322,700 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Albuquerque metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Albuquerque, NM Metro Area is 5.1% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).