Best PlacesSan Manuel, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around San Manuel, 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.
San Manuel ranks 42,148th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in San Manuel
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.
San Manuel's strengths and weaknesses
Where San Manuel ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 177 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of towns
Where San Manuel ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 2% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of towns
- Short commute37.9 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in San Manuel
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Manuel home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $45,937, 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 San Manuel's effective rate of 0.28%, 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 San Manuel
San Manuel runs older 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 San Manuel.
Who works in San Manuel, and how
Work in San Manuel centers on retail trade and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 99%
- Work from home 0%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in San Manuel
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across San Manuel.
What the weather is like in San Manuel, month by month
San Manuel sees roughly 177 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 103 degrees. January highs sit near 68, 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 | 68° | 51° | 38° |
| April | 86° | 69° | 51° |
| July | 103° | 88° | 76° |
| October | 89° | 73° | 58° |
Flying in and out of San Manuel
The nearest airport, Tucson International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around San Manuel
Schools across San Manuel average a D−, better than 2% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Collier Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Bonita Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Mountain Vista SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ida Flood Dodge Traditional Middle Magnet SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- San Manuel Jr. High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- University High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Thatcher High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- San Manuel High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Manuel school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Manuel 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 San Manuel against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in San Manuel
Is San Manuel a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Manuel ranks 42,148th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, the weather, and low property taxes, and lowest on summer heat and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Manuel expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $123,834. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $45,937 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is San Manuel safe?
San Manuel is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $482 per resident a year.
Compare San Manuel with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Manuel. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Manuel 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.
San Manuel detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Manuel: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Manuel: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Manuel: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Manuel: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Manuel 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.