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Place dossier plate
SheetNM-QUESTA-NM · Questa, NM 2,112 pop · income 9th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Questa
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Questa on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Moriarty · lowest
27,446
Moriarty · lowest
27,446 median HH income
14.1% of the leader · rank #1
Vinton · near
41,063
Vinton · near
41,063 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #2
Questa · this city
41,071
Questa · this city
41,071 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #3
East Chicago · near
41,071
East Chicago · near
41,071 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #4
Rake · near
41,071
Rake · near
41,071 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #5
East Newnan · near
41,080
East Newnan · near
41,080 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #6
Lookout Mount… · highest
195,063
Lookout Mount… · highest
195,063 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Questa on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 2,112.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Questa - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Questa places in the 9th percentile for household income and the 71st percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
9th
percentile, household income
50th
percentile, home value
39th
percentile, median rent
71st
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Questa, NM
Questa is a small town in New Mexico, home to 2,112 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Questa report a median income of $41,071 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 10.9%. Questa's housing stock carries a median value of $225,300, and the median resident age is 52.7 years. 17.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 45.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Questa reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 834.7 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in New Mexico run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, New Mexico scores 92.2 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,129 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in New Mexico run around $167, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 58.9 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Questa's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to reported crime to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to schools and households to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Questa, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Questa?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Questa?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 834.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 63% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Which cities make useful reference points for Questa?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within New Mexico, the closest population matches are Arroyo Seco (2,107 residents, $69,917 income); Navajo (2,133 residents, $28,917 income); Lordsburg (2,139 residents, $33,899 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Sumrall, MS (2,112 residents); Brewster, OH (2,112 residents); Lookout Mountain, TN (2,112 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
What does the journey to work look like in Questa?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 69.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Questa?
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 5 public schools within the city match. 17.0% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Poverty estimate
10.9%
Bachelor's degree+
17.0%
Matched public schools
5
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +12 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.7% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
2020 estimate
1,797
2025 estimate
1,809
Period change
+0.7%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 10.9% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
92.2 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, New Mexico average
F
City profile score · Questa, NM
33/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living B+
92.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate F
10.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
17.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
390 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$41,071
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Questa profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 77/100 (B+) · 92.2 index
Poverty rate: 36/100 (F) · 10.9%
Bachelor's+ share: 26/100 (F) · 17.0%
Violent crime: 23/100 (F) · 390 /100k
Household income: 8/100 (F) · $41,071
Where Questa sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Questa's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Questa highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
Questa, NM (this city): home $225,300, crime 835/100k
Brewster, OH : home $133,200, crime 524/100k
Fredonia, KS : home $87,700, crime 3,120/100k
Bangor, MI : home $106,800, crime 3,205/100k
Lordsburg, NM : home $86,100, crime 1,155/100k
Jal, NM : home $105,400, crime 145/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Questa compare to other US cities?
Where Questa sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income9% higher than other cities
Home value50% pricier than other cities
Median rent39% pricier than other cities
Safety71% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just New Mexico and the picture shifts: Questa ranks #8 of 42 New Mexico cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Questa against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New Mexico only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New Mexico-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Questa near the bottom of New Mexico's cities
Among the 409 New Mexico cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Questa ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Questa only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#242 of 324
25th percentile in New Mexico
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 409
0th percentile in New Mexico
Median Home Value
#117 of 324
64th percentile in New Mexico
Poverty Rate
#219 of 408
46th percentile in New Mexico
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#203 of 409
50th percentile in New Mexico
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within New Mexico only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
9th percentile nationally for median household income · 71st percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Questa's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Questa's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Questa's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$225,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 50% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Questa's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,553 of 15,516
More affordable than 13% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,143 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.5×, Questa sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,553 of 15,516 and #10,143 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$41,071Questa, NM median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Questa, NM median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Questa, NM.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)45.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,112
Median Income
$41,071
Median Home Value
$225,300
Median Age
52.7
Poverty Rate
10.9%
Labor force participation
45.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
834.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
389.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
445.2
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Questa's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,797 residents
2021
1,806 residents
2022
1,794 residents
2023
1,792 residents
2024
1,797 residents
2025
1,809 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
69.8%
Carpool
6.8%
Public Transit
1.2%
Walk
1.4%
Work from Home
20.9%
Based on 843 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New Mexico statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $167
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New Mexico at $167 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are New Mexico statewide averages, not a meter reading for Questa. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New Mexico's BEA cost-of-living index is 92.2 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Questa is $1,129/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New Mexico statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 58.9 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New Mexico statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Questa sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Questa compares to similar-size New Mexico cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.