Best PlacesPearce, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pearce, 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.
Pearce ranks 33,899th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pearce
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.
Pearce's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pearce ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 154 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 88% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 78% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 77% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 76% of towns
Where Pearce ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- Short commute39.2 minutes each way, better than only 6% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Household income$49,094 median, better than only 11% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pearce
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pearce home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,094, 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 Pearce's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pearce
Pearce 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 Pearce.
Who works in Pearce, and how
Work in Pearce centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Pearce
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pearce.
What the weather is like in Pearce, month by month
Pearce sees roughly 154 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 44° | 26° |
| April | 82° | 63° | 41° |
| July | 97° | 81° | 66° |
| October | 85° | 66° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Pearce
The nearest airport, Tucson International, is about 68 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 165 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pearce
Schools across Pearce average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pearce Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- St David Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Benson Primary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Benson Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- St David High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Benson High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Willcox High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pearce school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pearce 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 Pearce against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pearce
Is Pearce a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pearce ranks 33,899th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, a strong job market, and walkability, and lowest on air quality and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pearce expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,929. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $49,094 median income, cost of living beats 15% of towns.
Is Pearce safe?
Yes, Pearce is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $264 per resident a year.
Compare Pearce with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pearce. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pearce 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.
Pearce detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pearce: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pearce: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pearce: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pearce: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pearce 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.