What USDA hardiness zone is Albuquerque, NM?

Albuquerque, NM spans USDA hardiness zones 5b to 8a. 52% of its ZIP codes are zone 7b, so there is no single zone for the metro.

When is the last spring frost in Albuquerque, NM?

The median last spring freeze runs April 6 – May 30 across the 24 NOAA weather stations serving Albuquerque, NM, from NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals. Half of years freeze later than the median.

Place guide

Planting zones in Albuquerque, NM

This metro spans USDA zones 5b to 8a, so there is no single zone for Albuquerque, NM and anyone who gives you one is rounding. 52% of its ZIP codes are zone 7b; the rest are not.

USDA zones 5b–8a 6 zones across 56 ZIP codes

ZIP codes 56 56 have a NOAA station within range

Weather stations 24 NOAA 1991–2020 normals, across 9,283 sq mi

Your ZIP code

Get the exact answer for your address

Everything above describes Albuquerque, NM as a whole. Hardiness zones and freeze dates are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact — enter it and this page will tell you your zone, which NOAA station it comes from and how far away that station is.

The growing season in Albuquerque, NM is closing

Nothing in the 32-crop table still has time to mature here. The first fall freeze normally arrives September 28 – November 3 across the 24 NOAA stations serving this metro area .

Your next season already has a date

The first job of it is 🧅 Green Onions, start indoors, around February 9 – April 4 — counted back from a last spring freeze of April 6 – May 30 here.

Every spring date for your ZIP →

These are ranges across the whole metro area. The ZIP lookup above gives the dates from your own nearest station instead.

All 24 stations agreeAt least one station

Every one of the 24 NOAA stations serving this metro area counts May 30 – September 28 as growing season (121 days). Widening to any single station gives April 6 – November 3 (211 days).

That is a 90-day difference inside one metro area — which is why this page gives ranges rather than a single planting date. The ZIP lookup above resolves it to one station.

Which zone you are in depends where you are

Albuquerque, NM covers 6 hardiness zones. A guide that gives the metro one zone has picked whichever is largest and rounded everyone else into it — which is fine for the 52% in zone 7b and wrong for the other 48%. Here is the actual split.

Zone	ZIP codes	Share
7b	29	52%
7a	14	25%
6a	5	9%
6b	5	9%
8a	2	4%
5b	1	2%

Zones are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact even though the metro's is not. The hardiness tool will tell you which one you are in.

Your freeze dates

Last spring freeze April 6 – May 30

First fall freeze September 28 – November 3

Those are the earliest and latest medians among the 24 stations serving this metro — not an average, and not one station standing in for the rest. Half of years freeze later than a station's own median.

The spread is the point. Even in a metro that is one hardiness zone throughout, its stations disagree about the last spring freeze. Hardiness zone and frost date measure different things — a zone is the average annual coldest night, a freeze date is when the season turns — and a place can be uniform in one and varied in the other. Use the tools below with your own ZIP rather than the ends of this range.

Your growing season

NOAA publishes a growing-season length for each station, and across the 24 stations serving Albuquerque, NM it runs 119–208 days . That figure is published, not computed from the two freeze dates — subtracting one from the other gives the wrong answer wherever a season crosses New Year. Mean summer high (June–August) runs 81–94 °F , at or above the 90 °F point where cool-season crops bolt and tomato and pepper pollen fails — so midsummer sowings of lettuce and its relatives are worth holding here. Summer rain over the same months runs 3.5–7.3" across those 22 stations, against the rough inch a week — about 13 inches over the same 92 days — that a vegetable garden is usually reckoned to want. The middle station covers about 34% of it, so expect to make up the rest. The inches are NOAA's published normals; the inch a week is a rule of thumb, and it takes no account of a 89 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.

When to start seeds in Albuquerque, NM

Every spring job for 63 crop dates, counted from this metro's own last spring freeze. Each is a range across all 24 stations — the earliest and latest that job falls anywhere in the metro — because no one station speaks for the whole area.

Crop	Job	When	Offset
Green Onions	Start indoors	February 9 – April 4	8 weeks before
Peppers	Start indoors	February 9 – April 4	8 weeks before
Broccoli	Start indoors	February 23 – April 18	6 weeks before
Cabbage	Start indoors	February 23 – April 18	6 weeks before
Collards	Start indoors	February 23 – April 18	6 weeks before
Kale	Start indoors	February 23 – April 18	6 weeks before
Leaf Lettuce	Start indoors	February 23 – April 18	6 weeks before
Peas	Direct sow	February 23 – April 18	6 weeks before
Spinach	Direct sow	February 23 – April 18	6 weeks before
Sweet Potato	Start indoors	February 23 – April 18	6 weeks before
Tomatoes	Start indoors	February 23 – April 18	6 weeks before
Bok Choy	Start indoors	March 2 – April 25	5 weeks before
Kohlrabi	Start indoors	March 2 – April 25	5 weeks before
Swiss Chard	Start indoors	March 2 – April 25	5 weeks before
Arugula	Direct sow	March 9 – May 2	4 weeks before
Baby Salad Greens	Direct sow	March 9 – May 2	4 weeks before
Beets	Direct sow	March 9 – May 2	4 weeks before
Green Onions	Direct sow	March 9 – May 2	4 weeks before
Mustard Greens	Direct sow	March 9 – May 2	4 weeks before
Okra	Start indoors	March 9 – May 2	4 weeks before
Radishes	Direct sow	March 9 – May 2	4 weeks before
Turnips	Direct sow	March 9 – May 2	4 weeks before
Cabbage	Set out	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Carrots	Direct sow	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Collards	Direct sow	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Collards	Set out	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Cucumbers	Start indoors	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Green Onions	Set out	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Kale	Direct sow	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Kale	Set out	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Kohlrabi	Direct sow	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Kohlrabi	Set out	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Leaf Lettuce	Direct sow	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Pumpkins	Start indoors	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Summer Squash	Start indoors	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Winter Squash	Start indoors	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Zucchini	Start indoors	March 16 – May 9	3 weeks before
Bok Choy	Direct sow	March 23 – May 16	2 weeks before
Bok Choy	Set out	March 23 – May 16	2 weeks before
Broccoli	Set out	March 23 – May 16	2 weeks before
Cilantro	Direct sow	March 23 – May 16	2 weeks before
Leaf Lettuce	Set out	March 23 – May 16	2 weeks before
Swiss Chard	Direct sow	March 23 – May 16	2 weeks before
Swiss Chard	Set out	March 23 – May 16	2 weeks before
Dill	Direct sow	March 30 – May 23	1 week before
Bush Beans	Direct sow	April 13 – June 6	1 week after
Cucumbers	Set out	April 13 – June 6	1 week after
Pumpkins	Direct sow	April 13 – June 6	1 week after
Pumpkins	Set out	April 13 – June 6	1 week after
Summer Squash	Direct sow	April 13 – June 6	1 week after
Summer Squash	Set out	April 13 – June 6	1 week after
Sweet Corn	Direct sow	April 13 – June 6	1 week after
Tomatoes	Set out	April 13 – June 6	1 week after
Winter Squash	Direct sow	April 13 – June 6	1 week after
Winter Squash	Set out	April 13 – June 6	1 week after
Zucchini	Direct sow	April 13 – June 6	1 week after
Zucchini	Set out	April 13 – June 6	1 week after
Cucumbers	Direct sow	April 20 – June 13	2 weeks after
Okra	Direct sow	April 20 – June 13	2 weeks after
Okra	Set out	April 20 – June 13	2 weeks after
Peppers	Set out	April 20 – June 13	2 weeks after
Southern Peas	Direct sow	April 20 – June 13	2 weeks after
Sweet Potato	Set out	April 20 – June 13	2 weeks after

The week offsets are conventional extension guidance and vary by variety; the freeze dates they are counted from are measured. For a single date rather than a range, run when do I start my seeds? with your own ZIP code.

What survives the winter changes across Albuquerque, NM

Of 74 perennial fruits, nuts, berries, vegetables and herbs, 58 come through the winter in zone 7a and only 48 in zone 5b. That is a different garden at each end of the same metro.

Zone	ZIPs	Survive	Fail for being too warm
5b	1	48 of 74	0
6a	5	51 of 74	0
6b	5	51 of 74	0
7a	14	58 of 74	1
7b	29	56 of 74	3
8a	2	57 of 74	8

The last column is the counterintuitive one, and it is why the totals do not simply rise as the winters get milder. Most temperate fruit needs a documented number of hours below about 45 °F to break dormancy and set a crop, so an apple fails in a winter that is too warm; currants and rhubarb cook in the summer heat that comes with it. See the full list with reasons.

Cautious — shortens the seasonMedian across stationsOptimistic

Last spring freeze: Plan to June 16 to be careful. Median April 6 – May 30 across 24 stations; March 17 is the optimistic end.
First fall freeze: Plan to September 15 to be careful. Median September 28 – November 3 across 24 stations; November 16 is the optimistic end.

NOAA publishes these as probabilities, not averages — the middle figure is a median, so half of years fall either side of it. The cautious end is the 10% tail: in roughly nine years in ten the freeze falls on the safe side of it.

The 24 stations behind these numbers

All 24 NOAA stations whose normals this page quotes, spanning about 190 km north to south. Every one is named with its identifier in the station list below — this page does not single one out, because no one station speaks for a whole metro area.

A relative sketch, not a map with a projection: longitude is adjusted for latitude so the shape is not stretched, and there is no basemap. For the one station nearest a specific address, with its real distance, use the ZIP lookup above.

Every figure above comes from these, and each is named so you can check it. Which station serves a given ZIP code, and how far away it is, varies across the metro — the table below gives it per ZIP code rather than this page averaging it.

Station	NOAA ID	Last spring freeze	First fall freeze	Season
Albuquerque Foothills NE, NM	USC00290225	April 21	October 23	184 days
Albuquerque INTL AP, NM	USW00023050	April 6	November 3	208 days
Albuquerque Valley, NM	USC00290231	April 18	October 24	189 days
Clines Corners, NM	USW00003027	May 4	October 12	159 days
Cochiti Dam, NM	USC00291982	April 26	October 21	178 days
Corrales, NM	USC00292100	April 25	October 17	173 days
Cuba, NM	USC00292241	May 30	September 28	119 days
Estancia 4N, NM	USC00293060	May 18	October 1	135 days
Jemez Dam, NM	USC00294366	April 17	October 24	188 days
Jemez Springs, NM	USC00294369	May 9	October 11	153 days
Los Alamos, NM	USC00295084	May 2	October 12	162 days
Los Lunas 3 Ssw, NM	USC00295150	April 23	October 21	178 days
Lybrook, NM	USC00295290	May 9	October 9	153 days
Moriarty 1 NE, NM	USC00295908	May 14	October 4	142 days
Mountainair 8Nw, NM	USC00295968	May 7	October 9	154 days
Mountainair, NM	USC00295965	May 2	October 19	167 days
Pedernal 9 E, NM	USC00296687	May 9	October 6	150 days
Petroglyph Natl Mon, NM	USC00296754	April 15	October 27	193 days
Placitas 4W, NM	USC00296911	April 16	October 23	187 days
Rio Grande Nature Ctr, NM	USC00297461	April 23	October 20	179 days
Rio Rancho #1, NM	USC00297477	April 16	October 23	191 days
Rio Rancho #2, NM	USC00297481	April 8	November 1	203 days
Sandia Park, NM	USC00298015	May 9	October 9	152 days
Star Lake, NM	USC00298524	May 28	September 28	121 days

These are medians, not averages — NOAA publishes freeze dates as a probability distribution, and half of years freeze later than the date shown.

Every ZIP code in Albuquerque, NM

Zones are published per ZIP code, not per metro area, so this is the exact answer rather than the metro area's average. The station column is the nearest one to that ZIP code's centroid and how far away it is — the same figure the tools use, shown here so you can see which ZIP codes are well covered and which are reaching.

ZIP code	USDA zone	Nearest NOAA station	Distance
87001	7b	Placitas 4W, NM	14.0 km
87002	7b	Los Lunas 3 Ssw, NM	15.9 km
87004	7b	Jemez Dam, NM	5.3 km
87008	7a	Sandia Park, NM	7.6 km
87013	6a	Star Lake, NM	12.2 km
87016	6a	Estancia 4N, NM	7.9 km
87018	6a	Lybrook, NM	13.6 km
87022	7b	Albuquerque Valley, NM	12.4 km
87023	7a	Los Lunas 3 Ssw, NM	18.6 km
87024	7a	Jemez Springs, NM	12.9 km
87025	6b	Jemez Springs, NM	8.9 km
87027	5b	Cuba, NM	14.9 km
87031	7b	Los Lunas 3 Ssw, NM	3.5 km
87032	6a	Estancia 4N, NM	4.9 km
87035	6a	Moriarty 1 NE, NM	14.1 km
87036	7a	Mountainair, NM	16.7 km
87041	7a	Cochiti Dam, NM	4.5 km
87042	7a	Los Lunas 3 Ssw, NM	9.6 km
87043	7b	Placitas 4W, NM	5.7 km
87044	7a	Jemez Springs, NM	7.8 km
87047	7a	Sandia Park, NM	8.3 km
87048	7b	Rio Rancho #2, NM	1.6 km
87052	7b	Cochiti Dam, NM	13.0 km
87053	7a	Jemez Springs, NM	28.7 km
87059	7a	Albuquerque Foothills NE, NM	23.2 km
87060	7a	Los Lunas 3 Ssw, NM	3.9 km
87061	6b	Mountainair 8Nw, NM	11.1 km
87063	6b	Estancia 4N, NM	32.7 km
87068	7b	Albuquerque Valley, NM	15.0 km
87070	6b	Clines Corners, NM	7.4 km
87072	7a	Cochiti Dam, NM	6.8 km
87083	7a	Cochiti Dam, NM	2.9 km
87101	7b	Rio Grande Nature Ctr, NM	5.2 km
87102	7b	Albuquerque INTL AP, NM	5.3 km
87104	7b	Rio Grande Nature Ctr, NM	3.1 km
87105	7b	Albuquerque Valley, NM	3.2 km
87106	8a	Albuquerque INTL AP, NM	3.9 km
87107	7b	Rio Grande Nature Ctr, NM	3.8 km
87108	8a	Albuquerque INTL AP, NM	4.8 km
87109	7b	Albuquerque Foothills NE, NM	7.6 km
87110	7b	Albuquerque Foothills NE, NM	8.0 km
87111	7b	Albuquerque Foothills NE, NM	2.0 km
87112	7b	Albuquerque Foothills NE, NM	3.9 km
87113	7b	Corrales, NM	6.2 km
87114	7b	Petroglyph Natl Mon, NM	7.0 km
87116	7b	Albuquerque INTL AP, NM	5.0 km
87117	7b	Albuquerque INTL AP, NM	9.9 km
87120	7b	Petroglyph Natl Mon, NM	4.6 km
87121	7b	Albuquerque Valley, NM	17.7 km
87122	7b	Albuquerque Foothills NE, NM	6.3 km
87123	7b	Albuquerque Foothills NE, NM	8.1 km
87124	7b	Rio Rancho #2, NM	14.7 km
87144	7b	Rio Rancho #1, NM	9.7 km
87151	7b	Albuquerque Valley, NM	15.2 km
87544	7a	Los Alamos, NM	11.1 km
88321	6b	Pedernal 9 E, NM	18.5 km

ZIP-code positions are area centroids, so a large rural ZIP code's listed distance is measured from the middle of its area rather than from any particular address in it.

Your own ZIP

Work out your own dates

Each of these takes a ZIP code and answers for that ZIP alone, citing the station it used and how far away it is. There is a ZIP box in the header of every page.

What survives my winter?
Runs on the hardiness zone, so it answers for all of Albuquerque, NM at once — zone across 74 perennial fruits, berries, vegetables and herbs.
When do I start my seeds?
Dates every spring job from your own last freeze — sow indoors, set out, direct sow.
When do I sow the next round?
How often each crop is worth re-sowing, and when the next sowing is due.
What can I still plant?
Counts the growing days left before your first fall freeze, crop by crop.

Other places to compare

Gardening in New Mexico — zones 5a– 8b covers the whole state: how its 372 ZIP codes divide between 8 hardiness zones, and the freeze dates across every NOAA station in it.

Other metro areas in NM:

Las Cruces, NM Zones 7b–8b
Farmington, NM Zones 6b–7a
Santa Fe, NM Zones 6a–7a

All 388 metro areas, by state

Gear

If you want to act on this

Each link opens an Amazon search rather than a product we picked. We have not tested these and do not rank them — the search is the honest version, and you choose.

Trunk wrapZone 5b is cold enough that winter sun on a young trunk does more damage than the cold does.
Row cover and frost clothThe season here closes at the first fall freeze dated above — a cover buys back some of those days at the end.
MulchFor the perennials nearest their cold limit in zone 5b, where an insulated crown is what decides whether they come back.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. That costs you nothing extra, and it buys no influence over anything on this site: the dates come from NOAA normals and the zones from the USDA, and no product affects either.

Sources

Where these numbers come from

The hardiness zone is the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, published per ZIP code by PRISM at Oregon State. The freeze dates are NOAA's 1991–2020 Climate Normals, read from every station whose normals cover a ZIP code in this metro. Nothing here is estimated, and no station stands in for another.

This page names no single station on purpose. Picking one to represent a metro sounds reasonable and is not: the station serving the most ZIP codes is an artifact of where ZIP centroids happen to fall, and it selects a lock on the Monongahela for Pittsburgh and a far southern suburb for Chicago. A range across every station is true; a single cited date for a whole metro is not.

All metro areas