Best PlacesGoldfield, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Goldfield, 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.
Goldfield ranks 12,781st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Goldfield
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.
Goldfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Goldfield ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 200 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Household income$126,590 median, better than 94% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 94% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of towns
Where Goldfield ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Goldfield
A household needs to earn about $143,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Goldfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $126,590, 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 Goldfield's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 Goldfield
Goldfield runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Goldfield.
Who works in Goldfield, and how
Work in Goldfield centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Goldfield
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Goldfield.
What the weather is like in Goldfield, month by month
Goldfield sees roughly 200 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 107 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 55° | 44° |
| April | 88° | 74° | 60° |
| July | 107° | 96° | 84° |
| October | 90° | 77° | 65° |
Flying in and out of Goldfield
The nearest airport, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 30 miles away.
The best schools in and around Goldfield
Schools across Goldfield average a D, better than 7% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Franklin At Brimhall ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Zaharis ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Peralta Trail Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Franklin Junior High SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Smith Junior High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Cactus Canyon Junior HighD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Fountain Hills High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- East Valley AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
- Apache Junction High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Goldfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Goldfield 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 Goldfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Goldfield
Is Goldfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Goldfield ranks 12,781st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, high incomes, and a strong job market, and lowest on summer heat and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Goldfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $580,154. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $126,590 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is Goldfield safe?
Goldfield is safer than 39% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $376 per resident a year.
Compare Goldfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Goldfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Goldfield 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.
Goldfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Goldfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Goldfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Goldfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Goldfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Goldfield 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.