Best PlacesBlackwater, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Blackwater, 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.
Blackwater ranks 46,949th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Blackwater
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.
Blackwater's strengths and weaknesses
Where Blackwater ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 176 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 87% of towns
- QuietBetter than 86% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of towns
Where Blackwater ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- School gradeF, better than only 2% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Blackwater
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blackwater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $45,215, 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 Blackwater's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Blackwater
Blackwater runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Blackwater.
Who works in Blackwater, and how
Work in Blackwater centers on public administration and hospitality & food. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Blackwater
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Blackwater.
What the weather is like in Blackwater, month by month
Blackwater sees roughly 176 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.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 52° | 38° |
| April | 88° | 72° | 52° |
| July | 107° | 94° | 80° |
| October | 90° | 74° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Blackwater
The nearest airport, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 38 miles away.
The best schools in and around Blackwater
Schools across Blackwater average an F, better than 2% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Walker Butte K-8D+ · 23% proficient
- Florence K-8D · 20% proficient
- Heartland Ranch Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Coolidge Jr. High SchoolF · 9% proficient
Top high schools
- San Tan Foothills High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
- Florence High SchoolF · 8% proficient
- Coolidge High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blackwater school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blackwater 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 Blackwater against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Blackwater
Is Blackwater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blackwater ranks 46,949th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, the weather, and cell coverage, and lowest on thin health care access and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blackwater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $298,859. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $45,215 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Blackwater safe?
Blackwater is safer than 6% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $716 per resident a year.
Compare Blackwater with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blackwater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blackwater 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.
Blackwater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blackwater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blackwater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blackwater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blackwater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blackwater 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.