Best PlacesGila County, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gila County, 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.
Gila County ranks 2,395th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Gila County
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.
Gila County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gila County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 185 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 79% of counties
- QuietBetter than 75% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 74% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 73% of counties
Where Gila County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 10% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gila County
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gila County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $64,127; 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 Gila County's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gila County
Gila County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gila County.
Who works in Gila County, and how
Work in Gila County centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Gila County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Gila County.
Is Gila County growing, and who is moving in?
Gila County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Phoenix, AZ.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gila County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gila County, month by month
Gila County sees roughly 185 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 66° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Gila County
The nearest airport, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gila County
Schools across Gila County average a D+, better than 10% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Las Sendas Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Zaharis ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Mountain Meadows PrimaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Capps Elementary SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Fountain Hills Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Rim Country Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Fountain Hills High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Blue Ridge High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Camp Verde Accommodation SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gila County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gila County 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 Gila County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Gila County suits
Common questions about living in Gila County
Is Gila County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gila County ranks 2,395th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, low property taxes, and quiet, 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 Gila County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $257,054. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $64,127 median income, cost of living beats 16% of counties.
Is Gila County safe?
Gila County is safer than 33% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $443 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Gila County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 33. That works out to about 185 pleasant days a year, more than 98% of counties.
Is Gila County good for families?
Schools beat 10% of counties, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $856 a month.
Compare Gila County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gila County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gila County 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.
Gila County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gila County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gila County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gila County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gila County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gila County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.