Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 18,186.
Chaparral gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $217K for a typical one, or 3.8 years of the Las Cruces metro’s $57K median household income. It grades C− overall, ranked 35th of 72 in New Mexico. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 51% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top, and residents are less healthy than 88% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. 51% of the land in Chaparral is conserved, against 3.8% in New Mexico’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, 3,997 acres with 2.4 miles of trail.
Where Chaparral beats most towns.
14,631 counted in 2010 and 16,551 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Mexico), ordered by how far Chaparral is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 2004 and 2 maps from 1940 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Chaparral is unincorporated, so Doña Ana 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 Chaparral.
Chaparral has a longer frost-free season than almost anywhere else in New Mexico, sends many workers across the state line and keeps more of its land conserved than most of New Mexico.
Its 19,214 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 99% of New Mexico towns.
15 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. At 0.3 miles per square mile, Chaparral’s trail density is where New Mexico’s towns sit at 1.0 and U.S. towns at 0.4.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument | 2.4 mi | 3,997 |
| 2. Delores C Wright Memorial Park | — | 17 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Gadsden school district. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Chaparral High, with 1,067 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chaparral MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 546 | – |
| Chaparral HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,067 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NM on state tests and graduation
Against the 4,356 U.S. towns with household incomes like Chaparral’s, it is less healthy than 62%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
29% of Chaparral adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Chaparral beats the New Mexico average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 67% of Chaparral adults had a checkup this year.
| Chaparral | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 25% | 19% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 23% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 16% | 8.1% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 67% | 69% | 79% |
| What stands out | Chaparral | NM |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.7% | 7.4% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 22.8% | 25.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 29.3% | 15.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
53% of working residents cross a state line to work. Chaparral has 1,017 jobs for its 4,565 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Chaparral for work: only 7% work in town. 27% of residents live below the poverty line in Chaparral. Since 2013, Chaparral has added 473 jobs, to 1,017 in 2023.
| Chaparral | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 27% | 20% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 4.5% | 8.4% | 11% |
| Median household income | $46,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The median property tax bill is $588, against $1,731 across New Mexico, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Chaparral home is worth about $217,000, down 1.7% in a year, 31% below the New Mexico typical home. The median rent in Chaparral is $853 a month.
| Chaparral | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 41% | 48% | 48% |
| Median rent | $853 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 70% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The La Tuna 1 S weather station, 12 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 264 days, the highest of 518 New Mexico places with climate records. The La Tuna 1 S weather station, 12 miles away, records that about 114 days a year reach 90°, more than in 97% of U.S. towns.
Chaparral has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. Chaparral’s July high is 95°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Chaparral. Close and well known come first.
20 mi Stadium & arenaSun Bowl Stadium
12 mi State parkFranklin Mountains State Park
23 mi Ancient siteHueco Tanks
19 mi National MemorialChamizal National Memorial8K visitors a year
19 mi Theme parkWestern Playland
20 mi TheatrePlaza TheatreSun Bowl Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · Franklin Mountains State Park: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0 · Hueco Tanks: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0 · Chamizal National Memorial: Original uploader was Mosamiazaz at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Western Playland: Dimples915, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Plaza Theatre: Donitza Marie, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Chaparral
About 7 of every 100 Chaparral residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Mexico.
Where Chaparral’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Census-designated place in New Mexico, United States
Chaparral is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Doña Ana and Otero counties, New Mexico. The population was 16,551 at the 2020 census. Chaparral is primarily a bedroom community for the neighboring city of El Paso, Texas, and the neighboring military installations of White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss. It is officially part of the Las Cruces Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Chaparral.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Chaparral grades C− overall, better than 19% of U.S. towns and #35 of 72 in New Mexico. It grades D for health and B for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
