Best PlacesPhoenix, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Phoenix, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Phoenix ranks 1,198th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Phoenix
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.
Phoenix's strengths and weaknesses
Where Phoenix ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$203,158 median, better than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
Where Phoenix ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,377 a month, better than only 7% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Phoenix
A household needs to earn about $185,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Phoenix home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $203,158, 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 Phoenix's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Phoenix
Phoenix runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Phoenix.
Who works in Phoenix, and how
Work in Phoenix 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 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Phoenix
The coast is about 33 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Phoenix, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Phoenix, month by month
Phoenix sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 36° | 30° |
| April | 65° | 56° | 47° |
| July | 88° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 69° | 60° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Phoenix
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall sits about 24 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.3 million passengers in 2025, with 114 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Phoenix
Schools across Phoenix average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Carroll Manor ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Timonium ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Jacksonville ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hereford MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Ridgely MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Cockeysville MiddleC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Hereford HighB+ · 54% proficient
- Dulaney HighB− · 45% proficient
- Loch Raven HighC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Phoenix school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Phoenix 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 Phoenix against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Phoenix
Is Phoenix a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Phoenix ranks 1,198th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Phoenix expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $699,144. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $203,158 median income, cost of living beats 100% of towns.
Is Phoenix safe?
Yes, Phoenix is safer than 61% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $258 per resident a year.
Compare Phoenix with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Phoenix. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Phoenix 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.
Phoenix detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Phoenix: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Phoenix: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Phoenix: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Phoenix: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Phoenix 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.