Best PlacesOro Valley, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oro Valley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Oro Valley ranks 413th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Oro Valley
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.
Oro Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oro Valley ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 181 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of cities
Where Oro Valley ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 3% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Oro Valley
A household needs to earn about $134,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oro Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $114,090, 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 Oro Valley's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Oro Valley
Oro Valley 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 Oro Valley.
Who works in Oro Valley, and how
Work in Oro Valley centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Oro Valley
Oro Valley has more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Oro Valley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oro Valley, month by month
Oro Valley sees roughly 181 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 102 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| April | 86° | 70° | 54° |
| July | 102° | 89° | 77° |
| October | 89° | 74° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Oro Valley
The nearest airport, Tucson International, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oro Valley
Schools across Oro Valley average a B, better than 61% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Basis Oro Valley PrimaryA+ · 79% proficient
- The Innovation AcademyA · 65% proficient
- Leman Academy Of Excellence-oro Valley ArizonaA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lawrence W Cross Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Tortolita Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Basis Oro ValleyA+ · 87% proficient
- Canyon Del Oro High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Ironwood Ridge High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oro Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oro Valley 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 Oro Valley against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Oro Valley suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of cities and 24% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 90% of cities, health care access beats 95%, and it is quieter than 80%.
Common questions about living in Oro Valley
Is Oro Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oro Valley ranks 413th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on health care access, civic engagement, and low crime, and lowest on summer heat and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oro Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $517,202. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $114,090 median income, cost of living beats 80% of cities.
Is Oro Valley safe?
Yes, Oro Valley is safer than 90% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $207 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oro Valley?
July highs average about 102 degrees, and January highs near 66 with lows near 41. That works out to about 181 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of cities.
Is Oro Valley good for families?
Schools beat 61% of cities, crime safety beats 90%, and childcare runs $989 a month.
Compare Oro Valley with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oro Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oro Valley 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.
Oro Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oro Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oro Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oro Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oro Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oro Valley 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.