Best Places85021, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 85021, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
85021 ranks 14,843rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 85021
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
85021's strengths and weaknesses
Where 85021 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 199 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 96% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 96% of zip codes
Where 85021 ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 12% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 85021
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 85021 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,060, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 85021's effective rate of 0.47%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 85021
85021 runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 85021.
Who works in 85021, and how
Work in 85021 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in 85021
85021 has more parkland per resident than 71% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 85021 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 85021, month by month
85021 sees roughly 199 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 107 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| April | 86° | 72° | 55° |
| July | 107° | 95° | 81° |
| October | 89° | 75° | 62° |
Flying in and out of 85021
Phoenix Sky Harbor International sits about 10 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.2 million passengers in 2025, with 177 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 85021
Schools across 85021 average a D, better than 8% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Madison Traditional AcademyA+ · 76% proficient
- Desert View Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Orangewood SchoolD · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Madison Meadows SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Mountain Sky Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Royal Palm Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Sunnyslope High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Washington High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Cortez High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 85021 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
85021 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 85021 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 85021 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 85021
Is 85021 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 85021 ranks 14,843rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, the weather, and cell coverage, and lowest on air quality and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 85021 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $440,233. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $82,060 median income, cost of living beats 48% of zip codes.
Is 85021 safe?
85021 is safer than 18% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $516 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 85021?
July highs average about 107 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 41. That works out to about 199 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of zip codes.
Is 85021 good for families?
Schools beat 8% of zip codes, crime safety beats 18%, and childcare runs $1,109 a month.
Compare 85021 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 85021. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 85021 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
85021 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 85021: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 85021: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 85021: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 85021: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
85021 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.