Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Raton gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $154K, 2.9 years of the county’s $54K median household income. It grades C− overall, 33rd of 72 graded towns in New Mexico. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $53K, and 25% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, it has 5 miles of trail. 58% of working residents work locally in Raton, where New Mexico’s towns sit at 13% and U.S. towns at 8%. Raton has 11 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Raton Pass and Raton Downtown Historic District. Only 3 of the 49 New Mexico towns we compare have a lower midpoint home value than Raton.
Where Raton beats most towns.
Raton Downtown Historic District
Census counts: 1,255 in 1890, a peak of 8,241 in 1950, 6,041 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1897 and 2 maps from 1912 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Mexico), ordered by how far Raton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Raton, 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 Raton.
Raton is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has homes that are cheap against local pay.
At 2.9 years of the county’s $54K median household income, the typical home (about $154K) costs less against local pay than in 80% of New Mexico towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. The median property tax bill is $719, against $1,731 across New Mexico, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The midpoint rent for Raton comes to $741 a month. Typical home values rose 5.6% in the year to September 2026. The typical Raton home is worth about $154,000, up 5.6% in a year, 51% below the New Mexico typical home.
| Raton | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $741 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 67% | 70% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Of its 3 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. Its public schools are run by the Raton school district. The largest public high school is Raton High, with 350 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raton IntermediateLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–6 | Grades 3–6 | 246 | – |
| Raton HighLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 350 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NM on state tests and graduation
There are 5.2 miles of trail across 4 parks and preserves. The trail density in Raton is 0.7 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves in the town: 4, covering 56 acres.
| Raton | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7.9% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Roundhouse Memorial Park | 1.5 mi | 49 |
| 2. Romero Park | — | 4 |
| 3. Ripley Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Within New Mexico, it does better than 79% of towns. For Raton, the violent offense rate is 4.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Raton | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.8 per 1,000 residents | 4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.8 per 1,000 residents | 16.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 6,677 U.S. towns with household incomes like Raton’s, it is healthier than 68%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
In Raton, 71% of adults had a checkup this year, and 27% say their health is fair or poor. Of 32 CDC measures, Raton beats the New Mexico average on 1 and trails it on 8. Also worth knowing: for adults 18 to 64 in the town, the share who have no health insurance is 18%.
| Raton | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 12% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 8.1% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 69% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 25% | 19% |
| What stands out | Raton | NM |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 78% | 73.3% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 20.7% | 14.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The top destinations are Albuquerque (6%), Santa Fe (3%) and Trinidad (3%). Jobs based in Raton fell to 2,082 in 2023, 337 fewer than in 2013. Its typical journey to work is 19 minutes. For half of commuters, work is under 2 miles away.
| Raton | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $53,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
One flood insurance claim has been paid in Raton since 2006. Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 64% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 57% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 23% to wildfires.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Just over a fifth of adults 25 and older hold at least a bachelor’s degree, against 31% across New Mexico. People 65 and older are a quarter of residents (19% statewide). For Raton, the median age is 44.8 years.
| Raton | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 44.8 years | 37.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 19% | 24% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 21% | 23% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.1 points. Across New Mexico, 50.3% of residents are women.
| Raton | NM | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.5% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.8% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.2% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.7% | 11.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.3% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.1% | 11.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.4% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 41.5% | 25.7% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.1% | 22.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.1% | 9.2% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 12.7% | 17.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.6% | 13.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
None within 15 miles of Raton; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Raton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Mexico.
6,885 counted in 2010 and 6,041 in 2020; an estimated 5,952 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
11 places in Raton on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Raton.
City in New Mexico, United States
Raton ( rə-TONE) is a city in and the county seat of Colfax County in northeastern New Mexico, United States. The city is located just south of Raton Pass. The city is also located about 6.5 miles south of the New Mexico–Colorado border and 85 miles west of Oklahoma. At the 2020 census, its population was 6,041.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Raton grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #33 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 C−.
Within New Mexico, it does better than 79% of towns.
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 B+.
10 notable people were born here, including Paul L. Modrich and Petro Vlahos.
