Best PlacesNogales, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nogales, 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.
Nogales ranks 46,370th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Nogales
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.
Nogales' strengths and weaknesses
Where Nogales ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 150 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- Short commute18.6 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 84% of towns
- BikingBetter than 83% of towns
Where Nogales ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 4% of towns
- Household income$46,105 median, better than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nogales
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nogales home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $46,105; 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 Nogales' effective rate of 0.59%, 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 Nogales
Nogales runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Nogales.
Who works in Nogales, and how
Work in Nogales centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Nogales
Nogales has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns and more parkland per resident than 92% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Nogales and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Nogales, month by month
Nogales sees roughly 150 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 48° | 31° |
| April | 84° | 64° | 44° |
| July | 97° | 81° | 67° |
| October | 87° | 68° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Nogales
The nearest airport, Tucson International, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 156 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nogales
Schools across Nogales average a D, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mexicayotl Charter SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Little Red SchoolhouseC · 33% proficient
- Francisco Vasquez De Coronado Elementary SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top middle schools
- Coatimundi Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Desert Shadows Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Wade Carpenter Middle SchoolF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Patagonia Union High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Pinnacle Charter High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Edoptions Preparatory AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nogales school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nogales 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 Nogales against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Nogales suits
Common questions about living in Nogales
Is Nogales a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nogales ranks 46,370th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on education levels 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 Nogales expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $193,871. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $46,105 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is Nogales safe?
Nogales is safer than 9% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $701 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Nogales?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 31. That works out to about 150 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of towns.
Is Nogales good for families?
Schools beat 4% of towns, crime safety beats 9%, and childcare runs $843 a month.
Compare Nogales with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nogales. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nogales 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.
Nogales detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nogales: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nogales: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nogales: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nogales: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nogales 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.