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New Mexico›Doña Ana County

Picacho HillsNM

A town of 2,002.

Is Picacho Hills a good place to live?

Picacho Hills’ best subject grade is an A− for incomes; its weakest is a C for cost of living. 67% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Picacho Hills, above both New Mexico’s towns (23%) and U.S. towns (29%). On incomes, just 4 of New Mexico’s 156 towns do better. Picacho Hills’ trail density is 3.0 miles per square mile, where New Mexico’s towns sit at 1.0 and U.S. towns at 0.4. The biggest park or preserve is Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, at 33 acres. Picacho Hills has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.

What makes Picacho Hills stand out

Where Picacho Hills beats most towns.

A commuter town

98% of working residents leave Picacho Hills for work

Where Picacho Hills’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.

47% → Las Cruces Las Cruces 47% 7% → El Paso El Paso 7% 5% → Albuquerque Albuquerque 5% 5% → University Park University Park 5% 2% → Fairacres Fairacres 2% 2% → Hobbs Hobbs 2% Picacho Hills · 2% stay
164jobs based in Picacho Hills
2%of working residents work in town
8 mimedian commute distance

Census LEHD 2023

How Picacho Hills grades

Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Mexico), ordered by how far Picacho Hills is from typical.

How grading works

Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.

How TownRatings grades towns →

Getting set up

Moving to Picacho Hills: who provides what

Picacho Hills is unincorporated, so Doña Ana County and regional agencies provide most services.

PowerEl Paso Electric10.3¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterDona Ana Mdwca water system13 health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet8 providers100% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesDoña Ana CountyDoña Ana County provides services here
SchoolsLas Cruces Public SchoolsWhich school depends on your addressNCES
Register to voteOnlineIn New Mexico you can register online until 28 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 28 days before).vote.gov
Who runs elections hereDona Ana County Bureau of ElectionsDoña Ana County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jul 2023
ZIP code8800788007 100%Census 2020

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 Picacho Hills.

Work & commuteJobs & income grade A−

About half of Picacho Hills’ working residents commute to Las Cruces

Most working residents leave Picacho Hills for work: only 2% work in town. The median household income in Picacho Hills is $121,000. Only 5 of the 74 New Mexico towns we compare have a lower share of residents below the poverty line than Picacho Hills.

2%work in town
Picacho HillsNew Mexico townsU.S. towns
Median household income$121,000$55,000$80,000
Below the poverty line5.6%21%9.6%
Average trip to work30 minutes23 minutes25 minutes
Working residents who work in town1.9%14%8%

Where working residents work

In Picacho Hills2%
Las Cruces47%
El Paso7%
Albuquerque5%
University Park5%
8 mi
median commute distance
164
jobs based in Picacho Hills
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
C
Walkability grade: more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns

Census LEHD 2023 · ACS

Natural hazardsHazard risk grade A−

Picacho Hills faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding

Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 77% of U.S. communities.

23risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
23Low riskLowerHigher
Inland floodingDroughtHeat waves

FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA

HealthB+

Picacho Hills stands out in New Mexico and nationally, with fewer of its adults who report frequent mental distress

11% of adults report frequent mental distress in Picacho Hills. Only 3 of the 74 New Mexico towns we compare have a lower share of adults who feel lonely than Picacho Hills. 19% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Picacho Hills.

72%healthier than U.S. townsB+Health Grade
Picacho HillsNew Mexico townsU.S. towns
Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES)11%16%17%
Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES)25%34%36%
Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES)81%69%79%
Feel lonely (CDC PLACES)28%35%33%
32 measures vs. New Mexico
20 better6 too close to call6 worse
What stands outPicacho HillsNM
Fewer adults facing housing insecurity6.4%16.5%
Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off4.4%11.2%
More adults who have had cancer14.5%7.4%
Three Crosses Regional Hospital
6 mi away · emergency room
3 of 3
care shortages: primary care, dental, mental health

CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA

Climate

Picacho Hills has mild winters and hot summers

Picacho Hills has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. Picacho Hills’ July high is 95°F.

1″snow a winter

Typical low → high °F

Winter30–59°
Spring46–78°
Summer66–94°
Fall48–77°
Nov 13
typical first frost
Mar 12
typical last frost
+1.8°
vs. the 20th-century average

NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020

OutdoorsC

Conserved land covers 1.7% of Picacho Hills

9.5 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.

1.7%conserved
1.7%
conserved · 36 of 2,068 acres
9.5 mi
of trails · 3 per sq mi
Biggest places to walkTrailsAcres
1. Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument0.1 mi33

Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US

HousingCost of living grade C

Compared with most of New Mexico and the rest of the country, more of Picacho Hills’ households own their home

100% of Picacho Hills households own their home. The median sale price was $470,000 in May 2026.

$470Kmedian sale price
Market temperature
Buyer’s marketA buyer's marketBuyer’sSeller’s
139
days on market
5
homes sold in May

Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center

Keep exploring

Everything we know about Picacho Hills

16pages on Picacho Hills
After high school

Colleges nearby

3 within 15 miles of the center of Picacho Hills

About Picacho Hills

Census-designated place in New Mexico, United States

Picacho Hills is a planned community and census-designated place (CDP) in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. As of the 2020 census, Picacho Hills had a population of 1,864. The community is in central Doña Ana County, 6 miles (10 km) west of the center of Las Cruces and on the west side of the Rio Grande valley, on a hillside rising above the older community of Picacho. The CDP takes its name from Picacho Hills Country Club, around which the residential areas of the community have been built. It is located in Las Cruces Public Schools.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)

Area
3.2 sq mi
Elevation
4,137 ft

Picacho Hills’s neighbors

One town shares a border with Picacho Hills.

Explore the map →
How the neighbors grade
TownNM rankOverallCostSafetySchoolsHealth
Picacho Hills——C—B−B+
Las Cruces#56DCD−B−B−

Picacho Hills has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Picacho Hills reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Picacho Hills with a neighbor →

Questions about Picacho Hills

Short answers, built from the data on this page.

Is Picacho Hills, NM expensive?

That is 8 years of the area's median household income ($56,848 across the Las Cruces, NM metro 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.