Best Places85361, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 85361, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
85361 ranks 21,438th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 85361
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.
85361's strengths and weaknesses
Where 85361 ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 138 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of zip codes
Where 85361 ranks low
- Short commute46.0 minutes each way, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 85361
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 85361 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $75,024, 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 85361's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 85361
85361 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 85361.
Who works in 85361, and how
Work in 85361 centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 85361
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 85361.
What the weather is like in 85361, month by month
85361 sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 109 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 53° | 40° |
| April | 88° | 73° | 56° |
| July | 109° | 96° | 83° |
| October | 91° | 76° | 61° |
Flying in and out of 85361
Phoenix Sky Harbor International sits about 38 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 85361
Schools across 85361 average a C−, better than 27% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Festival Foothills Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Desert Oasis Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Morristown Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vulture Peak Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Boulder Creek High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Willow Canyon High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Wickenburg High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 85361 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
85361 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 85361 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 85361
Is 85361 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 85361 ranks 21,438th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on a strong job market, low property taxes, and cell coverage, and lowest on long commutes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 85361 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $486,332. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $75,024 median income, cost of living beats 43% of zip codes.
Is 85361 safe?
Yes, 85361 is safer than 57% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $319 per resident a year.
Compare 85361 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 85361. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 85361 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.
85361 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 85361: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 85361: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 85361: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 85361: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
85361 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.