Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Life in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, explained by people who’ve lived in Rio Rancho:



*Click here to share your experience living in Rio Rancho*

*Response format = Answer (Your name, How long you’ve lived in Rio Rancho)


Rio Rancho Favorites

What’s your favorite thing about living in Rio Rancho?

  • Economy. (Caleb, 11 years)
  • Use to be the schools. (Jessica, 18 years)
  • Location, schools. (Teresa, 18 years)
  • The beautiful outskirts and I feel like we’re in the center of a lot of things to do. (Anonymous, 20 years)

Rio Rancho Least Favorites

What’s your least favorite thing about living in Rio Rancho?

  • Politics in everything. (Caleb, 11 years)
  • Crime and the schools. (Jessica, 18 years)
  • No shopping in Northern Meadows area. (Teresa, 18 years)
  • Albuquerque being so close and the schools are not that great. (Anonymous, 20 years)

Rio Rancho Things To Do

What are fun things to do in Rio Rancho?

  • Motorcycle, shop, garage sale, faith gatherings, festivals and parades. (Caleb, 11 years)
  • Indoor pool parks. (Jessica, 18 years)
  • Always fun events including Santa Anna Start Center Events. (Teresa, 18 years)
  • Parks, tons of places to eat and walks. (Anonymous, 20 years)

Rio Rancho’s Reputation

What’s Rio Rancho known for?

  • Diversity in $ and people. (Caleb, 11 years)
  • Beauty. (Teresa, 18 years)
  • Dusty. (Anonymous, 20 years)

Rio Rancho Crime

What’s the crime like in Rio Rancho? (hot spot areas, etc.)

  • If compared to a stop light.. Mostly green, but around the holidays it bumps up to a yellow (caution). The occasional red, but our many officers respond to those swiftly. One should always have head on swivel never knowing when that red light will pop up. (Caleb, 11 years)
  • Bad now. (Jessica, 18 years)
  • Lots of crime in Northern Meadows older subdivisions. (Teresa, 18 years)
  • Not bad, but it is coming farther in from the Westside Abq area. (Anonymous, 20 years)

Rio Rancho Advice

Any advice for people moving to Rio Rancho?

  • Do your home work. Remember this is the desert and your car and home will forever be dusty. Get involved. RR is truly a community. When established get a good pest control company to maintain and control your invaders. (Caleb, 11 years)
  • It is getting a high crime rate now. (Jessica, 18 years)
  • Yes, schools are fabulous! (Teresa, 18 years)
  • Get prepared to dust at least once a week, but it is beautiful and peaceful to me. (Anonymous, 20 years)

Rio Rancho Stories

Share an experience you’ve had in Rio Rancho (fun, crazy, dangerous, etc.).

  • Some years the weather entertains. I love the summers when hot then rains like heck for few hours with cracks of thunder then the quick flashes. Like living on the edge if only a couple of months. (Caleb, 11 years)
  • I raised my kids here, back then it was good. (Jessica, 18 years)
  • Dogs in the park at Cabazon. (Teresa, 18 years)
  • Just being home and having the hot air balloons land near by. Such a gorgeous view of the Sandias when it is the Balloon Fiesta time! (Anonymous, 20 years)

Rio Rancho’s Future

How do you think Rio Rancho will change over the next 10 years?

  • Not much. I think RR went all in years ago. Maintaining that has been a drain on our budget. It would take a few big companies to invest in our city. 10 years don’t see it. (Caleb, 11 years)
  • It will get even worse. (Jessica, 18 years)
  • I hope that we will have more shopping out in the Northwest side. (Teresa, 18 years)
  • Definitely going to grow. I also think the crime rate will rise too. (Anonymous, 20 years)

Rio Rancho Facts

Any other interesting facts about Rio Rancho?

  • Not much more then that. (Jessica, 18 years)
  • You can still walk the Bosque in Rio Rancho and it’s always a beautiful walk and view of the mountains. (Anonymous, 20 years)