Rent Affordability for A Chef in New Mexico

A typical chef in New Mexico earns about $57,735 a year, which supports approximately $1,443 a month in rent under the 30% rule. Below, every tracked New Mexico city is ranked by how local rent compares against that affordability ceiling.

As of May 2026. 5 of 17 cities tracked stay within the 30% rule; 12 are rent-burdened on this salary.

City↕Median rent↕% of income↑Affordability
Portales, NM$1,008/mo21%affordable
Roswell, NM$1,263/mo26.3%affordable
Clovis, NM$1,315/mo27.3%affordable
Silver City, NM$1,371/mo28.5%affordable
Las Cruces, NM$1,439/mo29.9%affordable
Albuquerque, NM$1,452/mo30.2%stretched
Hobbs, NM$1,484/mo30.8%stretched
Farmington, NM$1,535/mo31.9%stretched
Alamogordo, NM$1,533/mo31.9%stretched
Artesia, NM$1,550/mo32.2%stretched
Carlsbad, NM$1,596/mo33.2%stretched
Santa Teresa, NM$1,684/mo35%stretched
Ruidoso, NM$1,700/mo35.3%stretched
Rio Rancho, NM$1,867/mo38.8%stretched
Santa Fe, NM$1,956/mo40.7%rent-burdened
Los Lunas, NM$2,040/mo42.4%rent-burdened
Los Alamos, NM$2,554/mo53.1%severely rent-burdened
Methodology: Salary is the BLS-derived state estimate for New Mexico. Rent is the latest ZORI monthly value for each city. Affordability uses the 30% rule (rent ≤ 30% of gross income).