Best PlacesIndian Wells, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Indian Wells, 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.
Indian Wells ranks 50,282nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Indian Wells
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.
Indian Wells' strengths and weaknesses
Where Indian Wells ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 168 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 94% of towns
Where Indian Wells ranks low
- Short commute59.6 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Indian Wells
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Indian Wells home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $29,942, 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 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 Indian Wells
Indian Wells 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 Indian Wells.
Who works in Indian Wells, and how
Work in Indian Wells centers on public administration and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Indian Wells
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Indian Wells.
What the weather is like in Indian Wells, month by month
Indian Wells sees roughly 168 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 99 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 35° | 19° |
| April | 77° | 57° | 36° |
| July | 99° | 81° | 63° |
| October | 78° | 57° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Indian Wells
The nearest airport, Show Low Regional, is about 78 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 174 miles away.
The best schools in and around Indian Wells
Schools across Indian Wells average a D−, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Indian Wells ElementaryD− · 11% proficient
- Sanders Elementary SchoolF · 6% proficient
Top middle schools
- Joseph City Junior High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Winslow Junior High SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Holbrook Junior High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Winslow High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Valley High SchoolF · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Indian Wells school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Indian Wells 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 Indian Wells against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Indian Wells
Is Indian Wells a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Indian Wells ranks 50,282nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, low property taxes, and quiet, and lowest on long commutes 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 Indian Wells expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $84,700. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $29,942 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Indian Wells safe?
Indian Wells is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $907 per resident a year.
Compare Indian Wells with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Indian Wells. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Indian Wells 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.
Indian Wells detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Indian Wells: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Indian Wells: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Indian Wells: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Indian Wells: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Indian Wells 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.