Rent Affordability for A Registered Nurse in New Mexico

A typical registered nurse in New Mexico earns about $85,032 a year, which supports approximately $2,126 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. 15 of 17 cities tracked stay within the 30% rule; 2 are rent-burdened on this salary.

CityMedian rent% of incomeAffordability
Portales, NM$862/mo12.2%very comfortable
Clovis, NM$1,206/mo17%very comfortable
Farmington, NM$1,341/mo18.9%very comfortable
Silver City, NM$1,350/mo19.1%very comfortable
Roswell, NM$1,399/mo19.7%very comfortable
Las Cruces, NM$1,424/mo20.1%affordable
Albuquerque, NM$1,486/mo21%affordable
Hobbs, NM$1,497/mo21.1%affordable
Alamogordo, NM$1,546/mo21.8%affordable
Carlsbad, NM$1,568/mo22.1%affordable
Santa Teresa, NM$1,598/mo22.6%affordable
Ruidoso, NM$1,700/mo24%affordable
Rio Rancho, NM$1,857/mo26.2%affordable
Santa Fe, NM$1,932/mo27.3%affordable
Los Lunas, NM$2,025/mo28.6%affordable
Artesia, NM$2,583/mo36.5%stretched
Los Alamos, NM$2,645/mo37.3%stretched
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).