WaterflowNM
A town of 1,140, settled in 1919.
Is Waterflow a good place to live?
Waterflow’s best subject grade is a B+ for cost of living; its weakest is a D− for walkability. Only 9 of New Mexico’s 159 towns score lower on walkability. Waterflow's schools rank behind 86% of the state's. The biggest park or preserve is Jewett Valley (River Tracts), at 77 acres. Waterflow has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
1,140 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Waterflow grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Mexico), ordered by how far Waterflow is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Waterflow: who provides what
Waterflow is unincorporated, so San Juan 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Waterflow.
About one in three of Waterflow’s working residents commute to Farmington
Among working residents in Waterflow, 5.5% work locally. Employers in Waterflow added 114 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 651. Also worth knowing: the typical journey to work for Waterflow comes to 20 minutes. 13% of residents live below the poverty line in the town, below New Mexico’s towns (21%) but above U.S. towns (9.6%).
| Waterflow | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 21% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.5% | 14% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Bible Christian Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 28 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NM on state tests and graduation
A typical Waterflow home is worth about $236K
Over the 12 months to September 2026, the typical home gained 14% in value. Nearly three in five households own their home in Waterflow, where New Mexico’s towns sit at 70% and U.S. towns at 73%.
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Waterflow has four seasons and hot summers
A winter brings about 9 inches of snow, with January nights at 19° and July afternoons at 94°.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
10.3% of the land in Waterflow is protected from building
Among 71 New Mexico towns, just 4 have a lower concentration of trails than Waterflow. There are 1.8 miles of trail across 5 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jewett Valley (River Tracts) | 0.4 mi | 77 |
| 2. Hogback Area of Critical Environmental Concern | 0.2 mi | 76 |
| 3. Wheeler (River Tract) | — | 28 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Waterflow ranks healthier than 57% of the country’s towns
17% of Waterflow adults worry about having enough food. This New Mexico town does better than the New Mexico average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 3. Among adults in the town, 71% had a checkup this year and 31% have obesity.
| Waterflow | New Mexico towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 27% | 25% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 69% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 7.8% | 16% | 8.1% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 35% |
| What stands out | Waterflow | NM |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.8% | 15.6% |
| Fewer adults who get no exercise | 19.2% | 25.6% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.3% | 14.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Waterflow faces a moderate natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
FEMA expects more storm and flood damage in Waterflow than in 55% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 78% come from inland flooding and 8% from cold waves.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Everything we know about Waterflow
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Waterflow; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Waterflow residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Mexico.
Every workday, about 630 people come to Waterflow for work
Where Waterflow’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Questions about Waterflow
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Waterflow, NM expensive?
Not for the area. That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($55,872 across the Farmington, 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 B+.