Best PlacesPicture Rocks, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Picture Rocks, 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.
Picture Rocks ranks 27,789th 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 Picture Rocks
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.
Picture Rocks' strengths and weaknesses
Where Picture Rocks ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 196 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of towns
- BikingBetter than 83% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 76% of towns
Where Picture Rocks ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of towns
- Short commute32.0 minutes each way, better than only 24% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Picture Rocks
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Picture Rocks home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $64,204; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Picture Rocks' effective rate of 0.66%, 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 Picture Rocks
Picture Rocks runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Picture Rocks.
Who works in Picture Rocks, and how
Work in Picture Rocks centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Picture Rocks
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Picture Rocks.
What the weather is like in Picture Rocks, month by month
Picture Rocks sees roughly 196 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 Picture Rocks
The nearest airport, Tucson International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Picture Rocks
Schools across Picture Rocks average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Twin Peaks Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Picture Rocks ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Marana Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Mountain View High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Picture Rocks school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Picture Rocks 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 Picture Rocks against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Picture Rocks
Is Picture Rocks a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Picture Rocks ranks 27,789th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and few empty homes, and lowest on summer heat and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Picture Rocks expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $268,776. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $64,204 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is Picture Rocks safe?
Yes, Picture Rocks is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $292 per resident a year.
Compare Picture Rocks with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Picture Rocks. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Picture Rocks 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.
Picture Rocks detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Picture Rocks: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Picture Rocks: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Picture Rocks: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Picture Rocks: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Picture Rocks 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.