Calpulli was a Nahuatl term for a community group, neighborhood, or kin-based unit within an altepetl. It was connected with landholding, tribute, local organization, and social identity.

For learners, calpulli helps explain how Indigenous communities were organized below the level of rulers and city-states. It is one of the terms that appears in school-style explanations of pre-Hispanic and early colonial society.