Arenas ValleyNM
A town of 1,247.
Is Arenas Valley a good place to live?
The best of Arenas Valley’s subject grades are a B+ for cost of living and schools; the weakest is a D for incomes. On the outdoors, just 4 of New Mexico’s 161 towns do worse. Arenas Valley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Arenas Valley has shrunk 15% from 2010 to 2020
1,522 counted in 2010 and 1,291 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Arenas Valley grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Mexico), ordered by how far Arenas Valley is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Arenas Valley: who provides what
Arenas Valley is unincorporated, so Grant 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Arenas Valley.
A typical Arenas Valley home is worth about $162K
Over the 12 months to September 2026, the typical home gained 6.1% in value. Among households in Arenas Valley, 76% own their home, above New Mexico’s towns (70%) and close to U.S. towns (73%).
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Arenas Valley has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Among residents in Arenas Valley, 16% live below the poverty line, below the New Mexico town median (21%) but above the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Just 2% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. Also worth knowing: jobs based locally fell to 149 in 2023, 31 fewer than in 2013. Its average trip to work comes in at 17 minutes.
| Arenas Valley | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.7% | 14% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 21% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Arenas Valley faces a high natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Of the losses FEMA expects in Arenas Valley, 66% come from inland flooding and 25% from wildfires. Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 69% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The climate in Arenas Valley brings four seasons and hot summers
Its midsummer high stands at 88°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Residents of Arenas Valley are less healthy than 53% of U.S. towns
Among adults in Arenas Valley, 70% had a checkup this year. CDC measures, 32 in all: Arenas Valley beats New Mexico on 2 and trails on 1. In Arenas Valley, 31% of adults sleep under 7 hours, and 14% binge drink.
| Arenas Valley | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 69% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 36% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 16% | 8.1% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 13% | 16% |
| What stands out | Arenas Valley | NM |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 9.4% | 11.2% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 76.9% | 73.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.4% | 7.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Everything we know about Arenas Valley
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Arenas Valley
About 4 of every 100 Arenas Valley residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Mexico.
1,247 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Questions about Arenas Valley
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Arenas Valley, NM expensive?
Not for the area. That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($44,958 across the Silver City, NM area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.