Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
La Luz’s best subject grade is an A+ for cost of living; its weakest is a D− for incomes. La Luz’s average trip to work is 14 minutes, below both the New Mexico town median (23 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). 42% of the land in La Luz is conserved, above both the New Mexico town median (3.9%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). La Luz has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them La Luz Pottery Factory (Additional Documentation) and Juan Garcia House. La Luz has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where La Luz beats most towns.
La Luz Pottery Factory (Additional Documentation)Where La Luz’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Mexico), ordered by how far La Luz is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1976 and 4 maps from 1950 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around La Luz. Close and well known come first.
14 mi National ParkWhite Sands National Park660K visitors a year
4 mi MuseumNew Mexico Museum of Space History5.0M visitors a year
29 mi National forestLincoln National Forest
5 mi Zoo & aquariumAlameda Park Zoo14 mi Ski areaSki Cloudcroft26 runs · 634 ft vertical30 mi Ski areaSki Apache46 runs · 1,796 ft verticalWhite Sands National Park: uncredited NPS employee, Public domain · New Mexico Museum of Space History: AllenS, Public domain · Lincoln National Forest: Dsw3131, Public domain · Alameda Park Zoo: AllenS, Public domain
La Luz is unincorporated, so Otero 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 La Luz.
The trail density in La Luz is 0.2 miles per square mile. 1.9 miles of trail in 0 parks and preserves.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Alamogordo school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Luz ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 224 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NM on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave La Luz for work: only 4% work in town. 15% of residents live below the poverty line in La Luz. The top destinations are Alamogordo (35%), Las Cruces (8%) and Albuquerque (7%).
| La Luz | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 3.6% | 14% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 21% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
La Luz has mild winters and warm summers, with very little rain. La Luz’s July high is 91°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 67% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in La Luz since 2017.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
La Luz beats the New Mexico average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 41% of La Luz adults have high blood pressure. Only 6 of the 74 New Mexico towns we compare have a higher share of adults who had a checkup this year than La Luz.
| La Luz | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 35% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 69% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 13% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 36% |
| What stands out | La Luz | NM |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 11.8% | 15.6% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 13.2% | 16.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.5% | 6.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical La Luz home is worth about $270,000, up 2.8% in a year, 14% below the New Mexico typical home.
| La Luz | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $765 a month | $940 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 70% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of La Luz
About 5 of every 100 La Luz residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Mexico.
5 places in La Luz on the National Register of Historic Places.
CDP in New Mexico, United States
La Luz is a census-designated place (CDP) in Otero County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, La Luz had a population of 1,578. It is located immediately north of Alamogordo and lies in the eastern edge of the Tularosa Basin and on the western flank of the Sacramento Mountains. Until 1848, La Luz was a part of Mexico. The CDP gets its name from the Spanish word for "light".
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with La Luz.
| Town | NM rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Luz | — | — | A+ | — | B+ | C+ |
| Alamogordo | #39 | C− | B− | C− | B+ | B− |
La Luz has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. La Luz reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare La Luz with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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+.
