Albuquerque, the Duke City, is the closest major city to Kirtland. It has about 553,000 people, and is in Bernalillo County, which has a population of about 663,000 people. Another nearby small community is South Valley, with about 41,000 people. Less nearby but still in driving range are Rio Rancho, on the far side of the city and with about 88,000 people, and North Valley, also on the far side, with about 12,000 people.

It is about 6 miles from downtown Albuquerque to Kirtland; this takes about 12 minutes to commute, but the city is very spread out and travel times can vary significantly, depending on traffic and where a trip begins. The average commute in Albuquerque is about 25 minutes.

Albuquerque is a fairly large city, with a strong tech economy and the many service businesses necessary to serve these industries.

Local Housing Rental Prices: The average apartment rent in the Albuquerque area ranges from $500 to $900 per month, with a median of about $650 per month.

Local Housing Purchase Prices: The average price for a house in Albuquerque is about $191,000, compared to $162,000 for New Mexico.

Short Description of the Area: Albuquerque is a large city in a large metro area in the north-central part of New Mexico. New Mexico overall is a dry southwestern US state with clear skies and weathered mountains, pine forests at higher altitudes, and considerable lowland deserts. Albuquerque is in the river valley of the Rio Grande, which flows south to form the US-Mexico national border.

Climate and Weather: The Albuquerque area has a dry, warm climate, with winter temperatures of the high 40s to mid-20s and summer temperatures in the low 90s to mid-60s. The area has fairly little rain year round, less than an inch a month most of the year, but about an inch a month from July to September. Summers are hot and dry, with some rain; winters are cool and dry with a rare dusting of snow. Overall the area is sunny, clear, dry, and warm.

Transportation: Albuquerque is a fairly spread out city, very suited to driving, but does have a good transit system, ABQ RIDE, and a commuter rail line to Santa Fe, the Rail Runner (beep-beep!).