Best Places85239, AZ Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 85239, 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.

See the map of best neighborhoods

85239 ranks 30,893rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.

#30,893
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 85239

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 85239 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

85239's strengths and weaknesses

Top 1%Cell coverage
Top 5%Fast internet
Top 5%The weather
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 85239 with other zip codes.

Where 85239 ranks high

  • Cell coverageBetter than 99% of zip codes
  • Internet speedBetter than 97% of zip codes
  • Nice weatherabout 178 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of zip codes
  • Low property taxBetter than 95% of zip codes
  • Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of zip codes

Where 85239 ranks low

  • BikingBetter than only 1% of zip codes
  • Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of zip codes
  • Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
  • Local economyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
  • Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 85239

A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 85239 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,250, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$39,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$912
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $159,800 home
Median rent
$679
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$815
Property tax$44
Homeowners insurance$53

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 85239's effective rate of 0.33%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.

Renting versus buying

At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 85239

85239's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.

Median age
41
about the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
18%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
3.6
above the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1820%
18 to 3422%
35 to 4919%
50 to 6420%
65 and older18%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 85239.


Who works in 85239, and how

Work in 85239 centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.

Work from home
5%
below the national average
Unemployment
17.9%
above the national average
Job growth
+0.4%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Construction19%
Manufacturing18%
Agriculture & forestry12%
Other services8%
Retail trade7%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 82%
  • Work from home 5%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 14%

Life in 85239

The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 85239.


What the weather is like in 85239, month by month

85239 sees roughly 178 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 107 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through April, October, and November.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January66°52°38°
April88°72°52°
July107°94°80°
October90°74°58°

Flying in and out of 85239

The nearest airport, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 31 miles away.

Nearest airport
IWA
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, about 29 miles
Airport size
Small hub
105th-busiest in the US, 1 nonstop destinations
Average drive
41 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 85239

Schools across 85239 average a D−, better than 4% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 85239 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


85239 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 85239 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Common questions about living in 85239

Is 85239 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 85239 ranks 30,893rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cell coverage, fast internet, and the weather, and lowest on biking and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 85239 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $159,800. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $63,250 median income, cost of living beats 20% of zip codes.

Is 85239 safe?

85239 is safer than 22% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $465 per resident a year.


Compare 85239 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 85239. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 85239 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.

85239 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 85239: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 85239: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 85239: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 85239: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

85239 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.