Best PlacesCave Creek, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cave Creek, 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.
Cave Creek ranks 311th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cave Creek
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.
Cave Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cave Creek ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 92% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 196 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of cities
Where Cave Creek ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 6% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Cave Creek
A household needs to earn about $197,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cave Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $137,244, 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 Cave Creek's effective rate of 0.34%, 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 Cave Creek
Cave Creek runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cave Creek.
Who works in Cave Creek, and how
Work in Cave Creek 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 63%
- Work from home 33%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cave Creek
Cave Creek has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 83% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cave Creek and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cave Creek, month by month
Cave Creek sees roughly 196 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 107 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| April | 86° | 72° | 55° |
| July | 107° | 95° | 81° |
| October | 89° | 75° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Cave Creek
Phoenix Sky Harbor International sits about 24 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 Cave Creek
Schools across Cave Creek average a B+, better than 74% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Horseshoe Trails Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Boulder Creek Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Sonoran Foothills SchoolA · 71% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sonoran Trails Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Mountain Trail Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Pinnacle High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Cactus Shadows High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Boulder Creek High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cave Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cave Creek 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 Cave Creek against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Cave Creek suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of cities and 33% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 91% of cities, health care access beats 94%, and it is quieter than 88%.
Common questions about living in Cave Creek
Is Cave Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cave Creek ranks 311th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low property taxes, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on air quality and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cave Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $803,701. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $137,244 median income, cost of living beats 84% of cities.
Is Cave Creek safe?
Yes, Cave Creek is safer than 82% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $230 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cave Creek?
July highs average about 107 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 41. That works out to about 196 pleasant days a year, more than 91% of cities.
Is Cave Creek good for families?
Schools beat 74% of cities, crime safety beats 82%, and childcare runs $1,109 a month.
Compare Cave Creek with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cave Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cave Creek 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.
Cave Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cave Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cave Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cave Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cave Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cave Creek 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.