Best Places85743, AZ Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 85743, 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.

See the map of best neighborhoods

85743 ranks 6,194th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.

#6,194
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 85743

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 85743 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.

85743's strengths and weaknesses

Top 3%The weather
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 85743 with other zip codes.

Where 85743 ranks high

  • Nice weatherabout 198 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of zip codes
  • Cell coverageBetter than 85% of zip codes
  • Crime safetyBetter than 83% of zip codes
  • BikingBetter than 82% of zip codes
  • Low vacancyBetter than 81% of zip codes

Where 85743 ranks low

  • Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
  • Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of zip codes
  • Air qualityBetter than only 13% of zip codes
  • Cheap childcare$989 a month, better than only 34% of zip codes
  • Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 36% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 85743

A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 85743 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $95,860, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$95,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$2,213
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $360,432 home
Median rent
$1,663
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$1,838
Property tax$255
Homeowners insurance$120

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 85743's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 85743

85743 runs older than the country.

Median age
46
older than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
25%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.6
near the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1821%
18 to 3418%
35 to 4918%
50 to 6419%
65 and older25%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 85743.


Who works in 85743, and how

Work in 85743 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.

Work from home
18%
above the national average
Unemployment
3.1%
below the national average
Job growth
+1.4%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Retail trade14%
Health care & social12%
Education12%
Manufacturing10%
Professional & technical7%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 79%
  • Work from home 18%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 3%

Life in 85743

85743 has more parkland per resident than 73% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 80% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 85743 and thins out in others, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
93
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 29.4 per 10,000 residents, more than 43% of zip codes
Coffee shops
10
about 3.2 per 10,000 residents, more than 55% of zip codes
Parkland
142 acres
about 4.5 acres per 1,000 residents, more than 73% of zip codes
Open past 10pm
~43
food and drink venues open late, about 13.6 per 10,000 residents, more than 80% of zip codes

What the weather is like in 85743, month by month

85743 sees roughly 198 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 102 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January66°53°41°
April86°70°54°
July102°89°77°
October89°74°60°

Flying in and out of 85743

The nearest airport, Tucson International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 90 miles away.

Nearest airport
TUS
Tucson International, about 20 miles
Airport size
Small hub
76th-busiest in the US, 42 nonstop destinations
Average drive
29 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 85743

Schools across 85743 average a C+, better than 38% 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 85743 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


85743 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 85743 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Who 85743 suits

Families

Schools land around the 38th percentile and crime safety beats 83%.

See the families priority ↑

Remote workers

Cost of living against local pay beats 78% of zip codes and 18% already work from home.

See the remote-work priority ↑

Retirees

The weather beats 97% of zip codes and health care access beats 59%.

See the retirees priority ↑


Common questions about living in 85743

Is 85743 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 85743 ranks 6,194th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and low crime, and lowest on summer heat and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 85743 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $360,432. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $95,860 median income, cost of living beats 78% of zip codes.

Is 85743 safe?

Yes, 85743 is safer than 83% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $235 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in 85743?

July highs average about 102 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 41. That works out to about 198 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of zip codes.

Is 85743 good for families?

Schools beat 38% of zip codes, crime safety beats 83%, and childcare runs $989 a month.


Compare 85743 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 85743. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 85743 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.

85743 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 85743: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 85743: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 85743: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 85743: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

85743 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.