Best PlacesFort Apache Junction, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fort Apache Junction, 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 Junction ranks 50,002nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fort Apache Junction
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 Junction's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fort Apache Junction ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 157 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 79% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 76% of towns
Where Fort Apache Junction ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fort Apache Junction
A household needs to earn about $14,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fort Apache Junction home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $44,609, 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 Fort Apache Junction's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 2 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 Junction
Fort Apache Junction 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 Junction.
Who works in Fort Apache Junction, and how
Work in Fort Apache Junction centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Fort Apache Junction
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fort Apache Junction.
What the weather is like in Fort Apache Junction, month by month
Fort Apache Junction sees roughly 157 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 Junction
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 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fort Apache Junction
Schools across Fort Apache Junction average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cradleboard SchoolF · 4% proficient
- Whiteriver ElementaryF · 4% proficient
- Seven Mile SchoolF · 1% proficient
Top middle schools
- 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 Junction school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fort Apache Junction 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 Junction against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fort Apache Junction
Is Fort Apache Junction a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fort Apache Junction ranks 50,002nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, quiet, and the weather, 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 Junction expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $54,200. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $44,609 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Fort Apache Junction safe?
Fort Apache Junction is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $764 per resident a year.
Compare Fort Apache Junction with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fort Apache Junction. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fort Apache Junction 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 Junction detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fort Apache Junction: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fort Apache Junction: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fort Apache Junction: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fort Apache Junction: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fort Apache Junction 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.