I've lived in Albuquerque for over a decade now. Never been to Houston except flying through.
Weather I would say Albuquerque beats Houston hands down. It's high desert (5,000+ feet) so the summers are not nearly as hot as a place like Phoenix or Las Vegas. Low humidity while Houston is basically a swamp. Summer temperatures will hot 100 maybe 105 a few days. In July - September we get monsoon rains, usually in the afternoon to evening so those clouds building up help cool things down. In the winter we'll get some snow, rarely more than a few inches in the city - far more in the surrounding mountains. However you can potentially be wearing a t-shirt and be comfortable in the winter - especially if it's not windy. It's sunny most of the time so the rain is usually a nice break. Often just some big fluffy clouds or completely blue skies. Very different from the Pacific NW where I grew up, 4-5 months of overcast skies and rain.
Albuquerque has a population of about 800,000. The Houston metro area is about 7 million and the 4th largest city in the country. In terms of economy and opportunities there's no comparison. Houston's economy is probably larger than all of New Mexico. However, Albuquerque does have a large number of R&D jobs between Kirtland Air Force Base (Air Force Research Lab and others, lots of directed energy, space, and nuclear focus) and Sandia National Labs. Then just an hour or so drive to the north is Los Alamos National Labs. Between the two of them Los Alamos creates the nuclear bomb (nuclear material and explosives) while Sandia handles all the other parts (sensors, detonators, etc.). It's ironic that for a relatively poor state there is one of the highest percentages of PhDs in the country. In general though, Albuquerque and New Mexico's economy is heavily dependent on the federal government. Military bases, national labs, oil and gas drilling on federal lands, Indian tribes, etc. Almost all of the largest employers are local or federal government and the many associated contractors. There's still a mix of other sectors but government and government contracting is the big money.
Schools are not very good. New Mexico schools routinely rank near the bottom trading places with Mississippi and Washington D.C. Albuquerque Public Schools are by far the largest district in the state so follow the average. As with most places you have good schools in good neighborhoods and bad schools in bad neighborhoods. The kids going to the school with PhD parents working at the lab are probably going to be better students than the ones who are being raised by a single parent in the war zone (excuse me, the "International District" as the city tried to rebrand it several years ago).
Crime is high, especially property crime. Albuquerque was #1 in auto thefts by a significant margin the last couple of years. Not just per capita, but total auto thefts. As in more than NYC, despite being a fraction of the size. The only time I've ever been subject to crime personally was when someone tried to break the driver's side lock on our old minivan. I had parked at a popular trailhead and taken one of my kids for a hike right near sunrise and we came back to find that lock cylinder partially broken. Other than that, most of the crime is concentrated in the bad neighborhoods like anywhere else.
In general the further north in Albuquerque the better. The further south the worse. Income, schools, crime, etc. Anything south of I-40, the east-west freeway that runs through the middle of the city, is generally not a good place to live. There are a few exceptions. I've always lived on the west side of the city which is on the west side of the Rio Grande River. Most of the city and almost all the jobs are on the east side so traffic going across the few bridges is always a hassle. However, compared to a lot of cities it's hard to complain too much about traffic. The west side is newer construction so generally larger and cheaper homes and nicer neighborhoods.
There are definitely a lot of outdoor activities. You have Indian Pueblos (reservations) to the north and south, the Sandia Mountains to the east, and desert to the west. There's the Petroglyph National Monument which is a large open space running through the west side of the city, with more open space in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. Lots of trails up into the mountains which are mostly National Forest. A significant part of the state is public lands, either state or national forests, or BLM land. Ski and snowboard opportunities abound throughout northern New Mexico. Taos Ski Valley is about a 3-hour drive, or the back side of the Sandia Mountains is 30-45 minutes. You could go skiing in the morning and then golfing in the afternoon back in Albuquerque as it's sunny most of the time (300+ days of sunshine a year). There are a lot of trails throughout the city, many of which follow along the natural arroyos (dry streambeds) that are maintained for flood control. The Rio Grande River runs through the city and on both sides is the Bosque, a cottonwood forest that extends along both sides for anywhere from a few hundred feet to a mile or so. We've taken the kids for walks along there many times and seen coyotes and other animals.
