El Cerro MissionNM
A town of 5,323.
Is El Cerro Mission a good place to live?
El Cerro Mission earns a D, 52nd among New Mexico's 72 graded towns, mostly because of incomes and health. The median household income is $49K, and 25% of residents live below the poverty line. Residents are less healthy than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. One bright spot: homes are within reach, about $115K for a typical one, or 1.6 years of the Albuquerque metro’s $71K median household income. El Cerro Mission’s average trip to work is 46 minutes, where New Mexico’s towns sit at 23 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 98% of U.S. towns. Only 2 of the 73 New Mexico towns we compare have a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than El Cerro Mission.
99% of working residents leave El Cerro Mission for work
Where El Cerro Mission’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How El Cerro Mission grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Mexico), ordered by how far El Cerro Mission is from typical.
Its grades run from A for cost of living (better than 90% of comparable towns) to D− for walkability (better than 3%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to El Cerro Mission: who provides what
El Cerro Mission is unincorporated, so Valencia 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 El Cerro Mission.
El Cerro Mission sends most of its workers to Albuquerque and beyond, but it is a long drive from an emergency room.
More of El Cerro Mission’s adults get no exercise outside work than in the typical New Mexico or U.S. town
The nearest emergency room, Presbyterian Hospital, is 21.7 miles away in a straight line.
38% of El Cerro Mission adults get no exercise outside work. Among 73 New Mexico towns, just 6 have a higher share of adults who smoke cigarettes than El Cerro Mission. 40% of El Cerro Mission adults sleep under 7 hours.
| El Cerro Mission | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 25% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 17% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 23% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 66% | 69% | 79% |
| What stands out | El Cerro Mission | NM |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.1% | 7.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 39.6% | 20.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
About half of El Cerro Mission’s working residents commute to Albuquerque
El Cerro Mission has 50 jobs for its 1,781 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 46 minutes, against 23.5 across New Mexico.
Most working residents leave El Cerro Mission for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Albuquerque (49%), Los Lunas (14%) and South Valley (4%). Half commute less than 22 miles.
| El Cerro Mission | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.1% | 15% | 8% |
| Median household income | $49,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Four seasons and hot summers in El Cerro Mission
El Cerro Mission has chilly winters and hot summers, with very little rain. El Cerro Mission’s July high is 93°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| El Cerro Mission | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.8% | 4% | 4.3% |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
El Cerro Mission faces a moderate natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 52% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Everything we know about El Cerro Mission
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of El Cerro Mission
About 6 of every 100 El Cerro Mission residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Mexico.
About El Cerro Mission
CDP in New Mexico, United States
El Cerro Mission is a census-designated place (CDP) in Valencia County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, El Cerro Mission had a population of 4,566. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. The U.S. Census Bureau previously considered El Cerro Mission and the neighboring community of Monterey Park to be a single CDP, El Cerro-Monterey Park. The CDP was split prior to the 2010 Census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 5.9 sq mi
- Elevation
- 5,052 ft
El Cerro Mission’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with El Cerro Mission.
| Town | NM rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Cerro Mission | #52 | D | A | — | B− | D− |
| El Cerro | #6 | B− | B+ | — | B− | B− |
| Monterey Park | — | — | — | — | — | — |
El Cerro Mission and El Cerro report no FBI crime data of their own. Monterey Park isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare El Cerro Mission with a neighbor →
Questions about El Cerro Mission
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is El Cerro Mission, NM a good place to live?
El Cerro Mission grades D overall, better than 13% of U.S. towns and #52 of 72 in New Mexico. It grades D− for health and B− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is El Cerro Mission, NM expensive?
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.