Best Places85253, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 85253, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
85253 ranks 1,378th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 85253
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.
85253's strengths and weaknesses
Where 85253 ranks high
- Household income$195,895 median, better than 99% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 198 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of zip codes
Where 85253 ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,109 a month, better than only 24% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 85253
A household needs to earn about $421,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 85253 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $195,895, 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 85253's effective rate of 0.37%, 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 85253
85253 runs older 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 85253.
Who works in 85253, and how
Work in 85253 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 85253
85253 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 85253 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 85253, month by month
85253 sees roughly 198 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 108 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through April, November, and December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 54° | 41° |
| April | 87° | 73° | 58° |
| July | 108° | 96° | 83° |
| October | 90° | 76° | 62° |
Flying in and out of 85253
Phoenix Sky Harbor International sits about 9 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 85253
Schools across 85253 average a B−, better than 57% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Cherokee Elementary SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Madison Traditional AcademyA+ · 76% proficient
- Scottsdale Country Day SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cocopah Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Ingleside Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Mohave Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Saguaro High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Chaparral High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Arcadia High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 85253 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
85253 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 85253 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 85253
Is 85253 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 85253 ranks 1,378th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on high incomes, an educated workforce, and low disaster risk, and lowest on summer heat and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 85253 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,710,147. The overall cost of living runs about 56% above the national average. Set against a $195,895 median income, cost of living beats 96% of zip codes.
Is 85253 safe?
85253 is safer than 39% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $374 per resident a year.
Compare 85253 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 85253. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 85253 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.
85253 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 85253: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 85253: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 85253: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 85253: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
85253 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.