Best PlacesPhoenix, MS 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. 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.
Phoenix ranks 35,406th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
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
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- QuietBetter than 81% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 78% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 73% of towns
Where Phoenix ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute36.7 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Phoenix
A household needs to earn about $38,000 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 $86,474, 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 0.59%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Phoenix
Phoenix runs younger 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 Phoenix.
Who works in Phoenix, and how
Work in Phoenix centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Phoenix
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Phoenix.
What the weather is like in Phoenix, month by month
Phoenix sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Phoenix
The nearest airport, Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 175 miles away.
The best schools in and around Phoenix
Schools across Phoenix average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Redwood Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Bentonia Gibbs SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Bolton-edwards Elem./middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northwest Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Warren Central Junior High SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Yazoo County Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Madison Central High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Raymond High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Clinton High SchoolC− · 26% 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 35,406th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, a stable housing market, and quiet, and lowest on cell coverage and state infrastructure. 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 $149,243. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $86,474 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Phoenix safe?
Phoenix is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $208 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.