Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Gallup earns a D−, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns, mostly because of safety and health. Its crime rate is higher than 99% of U.S. towns, with 273 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 88% of the country. One bright spot: natural-hazard risk is low. 63% of working residents work locally in Gallup, against 13% in New Mexico’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Gallup has 15 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them McKinley County Courthouse and Redwood Lodge. No town among the 32 in New Mexico we compare has a higher violent offense rate than Gallup.
Where Gallup beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Drake Hotel
Census counts: 2,948 in 1900, 21,899 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1887 and 2 maps from 1963 on.
15 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Mexico), ordered by how far Gallup is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Gallup, and how to reach them.
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 Gallup.
Gallup carries less natural-hazard risk than most of New Mexico (mostly inland flooding) and has a shorter frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns, but it reports violent crime at about twice the New Mexico rate.
The biggest place to walk is Red Rock Park, 568 acres with 5.6 miles of trail. There are 42 miles of trail across 5 parks and preserves. Also worth knowing: the trail density for Gallup comes to 2.1 miles per square mile.
| Gallup | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.1 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.1% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Red Rock Park | 5.6 mi | 568 |
| 2. Babe Ruth Park | 0.4 mi | 9 |
| 3. Gallup Brickyard Bike Park | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Of its 20 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. The Gallup school district runs its public schools. 6 public schools serve Gallup, with 2,352 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| John F. Kennedy MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 648 | D− |
| Gallup Central AlternativeLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 1,244 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NM on state tests and graduation
Violent crime runs at 13.7 per 1,000 residents, about twice the New Mexico rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−.
For Gallup, the property crime rate is 46.3 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Gallup does better than the New Mexico average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 16. Only 7 of the 73 New Mexico towns we compare have a higher share of adults who smoke cigarettes than Gallup. In Gallup, 18% of adults report frequent physical distress.
| Gallup | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 66% | 69% | 79% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 23% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Gallup | NM |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6% | 7.4% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 18.7% | 11.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 89% of New Mexico towns, with expected losses of about $308 per resident a year; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1988, Gallup has seen 6 flood insurance claims paid out. The risk rating from FEMA locally is 22 of 100. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Gallup once, in 2010. Expected losses in Gallup break down as 79% from inland flooding and 11% from cold waves.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Values fell 2.1% in the past year while the New Mexico typical home rose 1.7%. At about $217K, home values are up 6% in five years, against a rise of 25% across New Mexico.
Among 73 New Mexico towns, just 7 have a lower share of homes lived in by their owners than Gallup. In the year to September 2026, typical home values slipped 2.1%. Homes sold in Gallup spent a median 64 days on the market.
| Gallup | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 52% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $927 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Gallup: 30% of residents are under 18. Children under 18 are 30% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 14% of residents (19% statewide). Since 2020, Gallup has lost 8.8% of its people, to 19,969 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. For Gallup, the median age is 34.4 years.
| Gallup | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 30% | 23% | 22% |
| Median age | 34.4 years | 37.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 24% | 23% | 29% |
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.9 points). Across New Mexico, 50.3% of residents are women. Median age: women 34.8, men 33.5.
| Gallup | NM | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 16.4% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.8% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.1% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.5% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.9% | 11.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.8% | 11.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.6% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10.3% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.4% | 25.7% | 26% |
| Some college | 28.6% | 22.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.3% | 9.2% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 13.6% | 17.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.9% | 13.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The Gallup Muni Ap weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 119 days, shorter than in 97% of U.S. towns.
The range runs from 17° on a January night to 88° on a July afternoon, with about 34 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The top destinations are St. Michaels (5%), Albuquerque (5%) and Crownpoint (2%). For residents in Gallup, the share who live below the poverty line is 27%. Jobs based here fell to 13,624 in 2023, 749 fewer than in 2013. The town’s average commute is 21 minutes.
| Gallup | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 27% | 20% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 5.4% | 8.4% | 11% |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1 within 15 miles of the center of Gallup
About 4 of every 100 Gallup residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Mexico.
15 places in Gallup on the National Register of Historic Places.
21 notable people were born in Gallup.
City in New Mexico, United States
Gallup is a city in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States, with a population of 21,899 as of the 2020 census. A substantial percentage of its population is Native American, with residents from the Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni tribes. Gallup is the county seat of McKinley County and the most populous city between Flagstaff and Albuquerque along historic U.S. Route 66. Gallup is known as the "Heart of Indian Country" because it is on the edge of the Navajo reservation and is also home to members of many other tribes. The city is on the Trails of the Ancients Byway, one of the designated New Mexico Scenic Byways. Because of the nearby rugged terrain, it was a popular location in the 1940s and 1…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Gallup.
| Town | NM rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallup | #72 | D− | C− | D− | C | D |
| Catalpa Canyon | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Church Rock | — | — | A | — | C | D− |
| Sundance | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Church Rock has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Church Rock reports no FBI crime data of its own. Catalpa Canyon and Sundance aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Gallup with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Gallup grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns. It grades D for health, D− for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. That is 4.5 years of the area's median household income ($47,668 across the Gallup, 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 C−.
21 notable people were born here, including Carolyn S. Shoemaker and Tony Genaro.
