Best PlacesFort Apache, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fort Apache, 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.
Fort Apache ranks 49,296th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fort Apache
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.
Fort Apache's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fort Apache ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 173 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 78% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 76% of towns
Where Fort Apache ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fort Apache
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fort Apache home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $44,550, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 a national 0.90% effective rate, since no local rate is published, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fort Apache
Fort Apache 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 Fort Apache.
Who works in Fort Apache, and how
Work in Fort Apache centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Fort Apache
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fort Apache.
What the weather is like in Fort Apache, month by month
Fort Apache sees roughly 173 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 33° | 23° |
| April | 67° | 52° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 69° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Fort Apache
The nearest airport, Show Low Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fort Apache
Schools across Fort Apache average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pima Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Rice Elementary SchoolF · 5% proficient
- Seven Mile SchoolF · 1% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pima Junior High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- San Carlos Middle SchoolF · 8% proficient
- Canyon Day Junior High SchoolF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Alchesay High SchoolF · 4% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fort Apache school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fort Apache 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 Fort Apache against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fort Apache
Is Fort Apache a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fort Apache ranks 49,296th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, the weather, and quiet, and lowest on the schools and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fort Apache expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $113,200. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $44,550 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Fort Apache safe?
Fort Apache is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $466 per resident a year.
Compare Fort Apache with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fort Apache. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fort Apache 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.
Fort Apache detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fort Apache: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fort Apache: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fort Apache: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fort Apache: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fort Apache 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.