Best PlacesMaricopa, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Maricopa, 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.
Maricopa ranks 1,128th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Maricopa
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.
Maricopa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Maricopa ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 179 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of cities
Where Maricopa ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Short commute34.8 minutes each way, better than only 6% of cities
- School gradeD+, better than only 8% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Maricopa
A household needs to earn about $89,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Maricopa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,556, 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 Maricopa's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Maricopa
Maricopa 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 Maricopa.
Who works in Maricopa, and how
Work in Maricopa centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Maricopa
Maricopa has more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Maricopa and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Maricopa, month by month
Maricopa sees roughly 179 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 107 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through April, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 52° | 38° |
| April | 88° | 72° | 52° |
| July | 107° | 94° | 80° |
| October | 90° | 74° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Maricopa
Phoenix Sky Harbor International sits about 27 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.2 million passengers in 2025, with 177 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Maricopa
Schools across Maricopa average a D+, better than 8% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Mobile Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Pima Butte Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Butterfield Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Villago Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Desert Wind Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Maricopa Wells Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- University High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Heritage Academy MaricopaB · 46% proficient
- Casa Grande Union High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Maricopa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Maricopa 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 Maricopa against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Maricopa suits
Families
Schools land around the 8th percentile and crime safety beats 74%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 22% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Maricopa
Is Maricopa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Maricopa ranks 1,128th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a strong job market, cell coverage, and the weather, and lowest on tree cover and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Maricopa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $351,527. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $92,556 median income, cost of living beats 57% of cities.
Is Maricopa safe?
Yes, Maricopa is safer than 74% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $265 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Maricopa?
July highs average about 107 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 38. That works out to about 179 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of cities.
Is Maricopa good for families?
Schools beat 8% of cities, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $856 a month.
Compare Maricopa with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Maricopa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Maricopa 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.
Maricopa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Maricopa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Maricopa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Maricopa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Maricopa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Maricopa 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.