Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 7,580, settled in 1882. 3.4 times the library visits per person than the typical New Mexico town.
Ruidoso is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 45th among New Mexico's 72 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools rank ahead of 57% of New Mexico towns. Expect to pay for it: the typical home is worth about $321K, 6 years of the Ruidoso area’s $53K median household income. 46% of working residents work locally in Ruidoso, where New Mexico’s towns sit at 13% and U.S. towns at 8%. On hazard risk, just 11 of New Mexico’s 161 towns do worse. Ruidoso is home to Eastern New Mexico University Ruidoso Branch Community College.
Where Ruidoso beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Mexico), ordered by how far Ruidoso is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 806 in 1950, 7,679 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1868 and 3 maps from 1963 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ruidoso, 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 Ruidoso.
Ruidoso is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of New Mexico and has a long record of flood insurance claims.
21 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. The trail density in Ruidoso is 1.3 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Fort Stanton-Snowy River National Conservation Area, at 111 acres.
| Ruidoso | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.3 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.3% | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. White Mountain Recreation Complex | 0.3 mi | 34 |
| 2. Wingfield Park | 0.3 mi | 8 |
| 3. Two Rivers Park | 0.3 mi | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Ruidoso school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Ruidoso High, with 527 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra Vista PrimaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 514 | – |
| Ruidoso HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 527 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NM on state tests and graduation
185 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 32 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 89% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 185 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Ruidoso.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
People 65 and older are 29% of residents (19% statewide); children under 18 are 16% of residents (22% statewide). Ruidoso’s median age is 44.8 years. 35% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 31% across New Mexico.
| Ruidoso | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 29% | 17% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 16% | 24% | 22% |
| Median age | 44.8 years | 37.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 23% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.7 points. Across New Mexico, 50.3% of residents are women.
| Ruidoso | NM | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.9% | 11% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.1% | 10.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.8% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.7% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 5.7% | 11.2% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16% | 11.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.8% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.7% | 12% | 10.4% |
| High school | 16.9% | 25.7% | 26% |
| Some college | 26.9% | 22.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.2% | 9.2% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.3% | 17.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.1% | 13.9% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Of the 73 New Mexico towns we compare, none has a lower July high than Ruidoso. Ruidoso has chilly winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 2,615 working residents takes 14.2 minutes, against 23.5 across New Mexico.
21% of Ruidoso residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Albuquerque (9%), Ruidoso Downs (6%) and Roswell (4%).
| Ruidoso | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 20% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $53,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 6,704 U.S. towns with household incomes like Ruidoso’s, it is healthier than 83%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Ruidoso beats the New Mexico average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 41% of adults have high blood pressure in Ruidoso. Only 5 of the 73 New Mexico towns we compare have a higher share of adults who had a checkup this year than Ruidoso.
| Ruidoso | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 35% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 69% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Ruidoso | NM |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 12.5% | 16.5% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 11.9% | 15.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.9% | 7.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 6 years of the Ruidoso area’s $53K median household income, the typical home (about $321K) costs more against local pay than in 86% of New Mexico towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living. Values fell 4% in the past year while the New Mexico typical home rose 1.7%.
Typical home values fell 4% in the year to September 2026.
| Ruidoso | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 68% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $944 a month | $936 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Ruidoso
About 8 of every 100 Ruidoso residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Mexico.
3 notable people were born in Ruidoso.
City in New Mexico, United States
Ruidoso (Spanish for "noisy") is a village in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States, adjacent to the Lincoln National Forest. The population was 7,679 at the 2020 census. The city of Ruidoso Downs and the unincorporated area of Alto are suburbs of Ruidoso, and contribute to the Ruidoso Micropolitan Statistical Area's population of 21,223. A mountain resort town, Ruidoso lies in the Sierra Blanca mountain range of south-central New Mexico, where it merges with the Sacramento Mountains to the south. Ruidoso is a resort community close to the slopes of Ski Apache, the Mescalero Apache Tribe-owned ski resort on Sierra Blanca, an almost 12,000-foot (3,700 m) mountain. The tribe also operates…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Ruidoso.
| Town | NM rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruidoso | #45 | C− | C− | — | B | B− |
| Ruidoso Downs | #58 | D | C | — | B | C+ |
Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Ruidoso with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Ruidoso grades C− overall, better than 17% of U.S. towns and #45 of 72 in New Mexico. It grades B− for health and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
3 notable people were born here, including Tristan Gale and Yvette Herrell.
