Best PlacesBuckeye, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buckeye, 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.
Buckeye ranks 1,034th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Buckeye
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.
Buckeye's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buckeye ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 82% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 143 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of cities
Where Buckeye ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 7% of cities
- Short commute33.3 minutes each way, better than only 10% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Buckeye
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buckeye home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $103,767; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Buckeye'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Buckeye
Buckeye 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 Buckeye.
Who works in Buckeye, and how
Work in Buckeye centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Buckeye
Buckeye has more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Buckeye and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Buckeye, month by month
Buckeye sees roughly 143 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 108 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through April, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 52° | 40° |
| April | 87° | 71° | 55° |
| July | 108° | 94° | 81° |
| October | 89° | 74° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Buckeye
Phoenix Sky Harbor International sits about 32 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 Buckeye
Schools across Buckeye average a C−, better than 15% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Great Hearts Academies - RooseveltA · 65% proficient
- Verrado Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Verrado Heritage Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Verrado Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Vulture Peak Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Willow Canyon High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Shadow Ridge High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Estrella Foothills High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buckeye school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buckeye 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 Buckeye against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Buckeye suits
Families
Schools land around the 15th percentile and crime safety beats 69%.
Common questions about living in Buckeye
Is Buckeye a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buckeye ranks 1,034th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a strong job market, low property taxes, and cell coverage, and lowest on tree cover and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buckeye expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $420,498. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $103,767 median income, cost of living beats 66% of cities.
Is Buckeye safe?
Yes, Buckeye is safer than 69% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $281 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Buckeye?
July highs average about 108 degrees, and January highs near 65 with lows near 40. That works out to about 143 pleasant days a year, more than 80% of cities.
Is Buckeye good for families?
Schools beat 15% of cities, crime safety beats 69%, and childcare runs $1,109 a month.
Compare Buckeye with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buckeye. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buckeye 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.
Buckeye detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buckeye: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buckeye: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buckeye: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buckeye: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buckeye 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.