Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,933.
Grants earns a D, ranked 57th of 72 in New Mexico, mostly because of incomes and health. The median household income is $47K, and 34% of residents live below the poverty line. Residents are less healthy than 77% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. In its favor, it has 15 miles of trail. 34% of residents live below the poverty line in Grants, above both the New Mexico town median (20%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Grants is home to New Mexico State University-Grants. Only 5 of the 73 New Mexico towns we compare have a lower January low than Grants.
Where Grants beats most towns.
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| New Mexico State University-Grants | 144 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Mexico), ordered by how far Grants is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,251 in 1950, 9,163 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1943 and 4 maps from 1957 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Grants, 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 Grants.
Grants has a shorter frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has seen reported crime rise by about half.
For households in Grants, the share who are owner-occupiers is 60%. In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 8.2%. Grants’ median rent stands at $783 a month.
| Grants | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 60% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $783 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Two of its 7 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. The largest public high school is Grants High, with 807 students. The Grants school district runs its public schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa View ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 465 | – |
| Grants HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 807 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NM on state tests and graduation
The biggest park or preserve is El Malpais National Conservation Area, at 71 acres. The trail density in Grants is 1.0 miles per square mile. 3 parks and preserves cover 75 acres here.
| Grants | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.9% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. El Malpais National Conservation Area | — | 71 |
| 2. Truman Park | — | 2 |
| 3. Fire and Ice Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 4,724 U.S. towns with household incomes like Grants’s, it is healthier than 60%, so that grade isn’t only a matter of income.
The share of adults 18 to 64 in Grants who have no health insurance: 18%. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Grants is ahead of New Mexico on 1 and behind on 10. In Grants, 26% of adults worry about having enough food, and 27% say their health is fair or poor.
| Grants | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 68% | 69% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 23% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 25% | 19% |
| What stands out | Grants | NM |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.5% | 7.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.3% | 14.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes rose from 66 to 164 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
For Grants, the rate of reported violence is 4.2 per 1,000 residents. Within New Mexico, it does better than 79% of towns.
| Grants | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 4.2 per 1,000 residents | 5 | 1.7 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 16.2 per 1,000 residents | 18.1 | 11.5 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
The natural-hazard score from FEMA for Grants comes to 70 of 100. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 80% come from inland flooding and 8% from cold waves. Flood insurance has paid out on 21 claims here since 1992.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Grants Ap weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 137 days, shorter than in 95% of U.S. towns.
Grants’ peak summer temperature is 89°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here fell from 4,384 in 2013 to 2,978. The average commute for its 2,984 working residents takes 16.4 minutes, against 23.5 across New Mexico.
The top destinations are Milan (10%), Albuquerque (9%) and Gallup (7%). Roughly one working resident in three has a job in Grants itself. In Grants, the typical journey to work is 16 minutes. Jobs based locally fell to 2,978 in 2023, 1,406 fewer than in 2013.
| Grants | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 39% | 13% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $47,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 12% | 8.4% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1 within 15 miles of the center of Grants
About 5 of every 100 Grants residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Mexico.
City in New Mexico, United States
Grants is a city in Cibola County, New Mexico, United States. It is located about 78 miles (126 km) west of Albuquerque. The population was 9,163 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Cibola County. Grants is located on Historic Route 66, and along the Trails of the Ancients Byway, one of the designated New Mexico Scenic Byways.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Grants.
| Town | NM rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants | #57 | D | B− | C | C | C− |
| San Rafael | — | — | A | — | C | B− |
| Milan | — | — | B+ | — | C | C− |
| Mount Taylor | — | — | — | — | — | — |
San Rafael and Milan have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. San Rafael and Milan report no FBI crime data of their own. Mount Taylor isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Grants with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Grants grades D overall, better than 9% of U.S. towns and #57 of 72 in New Mexico. It grades C− for health, C for safety and C for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within New Mexico, it does better than 79% of towns.
That is 3.2 years of the area's median household income ($50,759 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
Grants has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places. 2 notable people were born here, including Marvin Stephens and Jack Wallace.