Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In New Mexico, this town has 2,898 residents.
The weak point is incomes (C−): the median household income is $65K, and 25% of residents live below the poverty line. Its strongest is hazard risk (A). At about $270K, a typical home costs 3.4 years of the Santa Fe metro’s $79K median household income. Put together, the subjects come to a C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 16th of 72 in New Mexico. On the outdoors, just 9 of New Mexico’s 161 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Romero Park, at 20 acres. Only 3 of the 73 New Mexico towns we compare have a lower home-ownership rate than Agua Fria.
Figures: FEMA National Risk Index · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · USGS PAD-US · OpenStreetMap.
Where Agua Fria beats most towns.
Where Agua Fria’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Mexico), ordered by how far Agua Fria is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,051 in 2000, 2,913 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1900 and 3 maps from 1951 on.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Agua Fria. Close and well known come first.
5 mi MuseumGeorgia O'Keeffe Museum
15 mi National MonumentBandelier National Monument248K visitors a year
26 mi National PreserveValles Caldera National Preserve85K visitors a year
5 mi Park & preserveSanta Fe Plaza
13 mi National Historical ParkPecos National Historical Park37K visitors a year
16 mi Ski areaSki Santa Fe, Santa Fe, Q3855588 runs · 1,753 ft verticalGeorgia O'Keeffe Museum: John Phelan, CC BY 3.0 · Bandelier National Monument: Andrew Dunn (talk · contribs), CC BY-SA 2.0 · Valles Caldera National Preserve: Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, Public domain · Santa Fe Plaza: See above, CC BY 2.0 · Pecos National Historical Park: Mosamiazaz at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Ski Santa Fe, Santa Fe, Q38555: Ybratcher, CC BY-SA 4.0
Agua Fria is unincorporated, so Santa Fe County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 27, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Agua Fria.
Agua Fria carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of New Mexico (mostly inland flooding), sends most of its workers to Santa Fe and beyond and is mostly renters.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 97% of New Mexico towns, with expected losses of about $404 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
The risk rating from FEMA for Agua Fria comes to 8 of 100. Expected losses in Agua Fria break down as 51% from inland flooding and 25% from earthquakes.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Public schools: the Santa Fe school district. Its one school is below. Agua Fria’s only public school teaches 212 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nye Early ChildhoodLargest public school before high schoolGrades PK | Grades PK | 212 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NM on state tests and graduation
In 1 park or preserve, walkers have 2.7 miles of trail. Agua Fria’s trail network density stands at 1.1 miles per square mile, above both the New Mexico town median (1.0) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4).
| Agua Fria | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.3% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.1 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Romero Park | 0.7 mi | 20 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Agua Fria has 317 jobs for its 1,206 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Only 6 of the 73 New Mexico towns we compare have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Agua Fria. The median commute is under 5 miles. The top destinations are Santa Fe (56%), Albuquerque (14%) and Los Alamos (7%).
| Agua Fria | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 25% | 20% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.6% | 15% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Agua Fria: two thirds of adults had a checkup this year, where New Mexico’s towns sit at 69% and U.S. towns at 79%. Of 32 CDC measures, Agua Fria beats the New Mexico average on 1 and trails it on 11. In Agua Fria, 24% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Agua Fria | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 16% | 8.1% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 67% | 69% | 79% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 23% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 25% | 19% |
| What stands out | Agua Fria | NM |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.2% | 7.4% |
| More uninsured adults | 23.5% | 15.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The range runs from 18° on a January night to 87° on a July afternoon, with about 20 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median property tax bill is $514, against $1,731 across New Mexico, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Just over two in five households are owner-occupiers in Agua Fria. Its typical rent comes in at $1,158 a month.
| Agua Fria | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 42% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,158 a month | $936 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
5 within 15 miles of the center of Agua Fria
About 2 of every 100 Agua Fria residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Mexico.
CDP in New Mexico, United States
Agua Fria (Spanish for "cold water") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, Agua Fria had a population of 2,913. Agua Fria Village is a "Traditional Historic Community" (THC) as designated by the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners in 1995 and subsequent Santa Fe County Ordinance #1996-16, as allowed by State Statute (3-7-1.1 and 3-2-3 (C) NMSA 1978).
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Agua Fria grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #16 of 72 in New Mexico. It grades C for health and B for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a C−.
The typical home is worth about $270,000, 14% below the New Mexico typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
