Best PlacesSalado, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Salado, 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.
Salado ranks 33,321st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Salado
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.
Salado's strengths and weaknesses
Where Salado ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 161 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- Short commute17.5 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 88% of towns
Where Salado ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Salado
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Salado home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,762, 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 Salado's effective rate of 0.29%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Salado
Salado runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Salado.
Who works in Salado, and how
Work in Salado 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 81%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Salado
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Salado.
What the weather is like in Salado, month by month
Salado sees roughly 161 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 34° | 17° |
| April | 73° | 55° | 35° |
| July | 93° | 77° | 60° |
| October | 75° | 56° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Salado
The nearest airport, Show Low Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 161 miles away.
The best schools in and around Salado
Schools across Salado average a C, better than 33% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Coronado Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Round Valley Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Concho Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- St Johns Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Round Valley Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Round Valley High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Salado school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Salado 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 Salado against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Salado
Is Salado a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Salado ranks 33,321st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, the weather, and low property taxes, and lowest on summer heat and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Salado expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $179,017. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $63,762 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Salado safe?
Salado is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $624 per resident a year.
Compare Salado with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Salado. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Salado 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.
Salado detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Salado: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Salado: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Salado: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Salado: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Salado 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.