Best PlacesPicacho, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Picacho, 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.
Picacho ranks 38,502nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Picacho
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.
Picacho's strengths and weaknesses
Where Picacho ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 171 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 85% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 76% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 76% of towns
Where Picacho ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 4% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Picacho
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Picacho home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,477, 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 Picacho's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Picacho
Picacho runs younger than the country, 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 Picacho.
Who works in Picacho, and how
Work in Picacho centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Picacho
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Picacho.
What the weather is like in Picacho, month by month
Picacho sees roughly 171 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 107 degrees. January highs sit near 66, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through April, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66° | 52° | 38° |
| April | 88° | 72° | 52° |
| July | 107° | 94° | 80° |
| October | 90° | 74° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Picacho
The nearest airport, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Picacho
Schools across Picacho average a D−, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eloy Intermediate SchoolF · 6% proficient
- Picacho SchoolF · 4% proficient
Top middle schools
- Eloy Junior High SchoolF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Picacho school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Picacho 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 Picacho against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Picacho
Is Picacho a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Picacho ranks 38,502nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and a strong job market, and lowest on summer heat and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Picacho expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $256,357. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $67,477 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Picacho safe?
Picacho is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $450 per resident a year.
Compare Picacho with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Picacho. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Picacho 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.
Picacho detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Picacho: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Picacho: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Picacho: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Picacho: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Picacho 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.