Best PlacesSan Tan Valley, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around San Tan Valley, 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.
San Tan Valley ranks 1,015th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in San Tan Valley
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.
The best areas in San Tan Valley
The parts of San Tan Valley, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Circle Cross Ranch
Pecan Creek
Castlegate
Scores across San Tan Valley run from about the 17th to the 88th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
San Tan Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where San Tan Valley ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 189 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of cities
Where San Tan Valley ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of cities
- Short commute36.6 minutes each way, better than only 4% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 10% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in San Tan Valley
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Tan Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $96,311; 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 San Tan Valley's effective rate of 0.41%, 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 6 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 Tan Valley
San Tan Valley 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 San Tan Valley.
Who works in San Tan Valley, and how
Work in San Tan Valley 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 78%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in San Tan Valley
San Tan Valley has more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of San Tan Valley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in San Tan Valley, month by month
San Tan Valley sees roughly 189 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 106 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through April, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 52° | 41° |
| April | 86° | 71° | 56° |
| July | 106° | 94° | 82° |
| October | 89° | 74° | 61° |
Flying in and out of San Tan Valley
The nearest airport, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 31 miles away.
The best schools in and around San Tan Valley
Schools across San Tan Valley average a D+, better than 12% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- American Leadership Academy San Tan Valley K-6B · 50% proficient
- Combs Traditional AcademyB · 48% proficient
- Happy Valley School East CampusB− · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Combs High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Poston Butte High SchoolD · 19% proficient
- San Tan Foothills High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every San Tan Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
San Tan Valley 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 Tan Valley against the other 2,097 cities.
Who San Tan Valley suits
Families
Schools land around the 12th percentile and crime safety beats 82%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in San Tan Valley
Is San Tan Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Tan Valley ranks 1,015th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a strong job market, low property taxes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on tree cover and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Tan Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $412,475. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $96,311 median income, cost of living beats 56% of cities.
Is San Tan Valley safe?
Yes, San Tan Valley is safer than 82% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $231 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in San Tan Valley?
July highs average about 106 degrees, and January highs near 65 with lows near 41. That works out to about 189 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in San Tan Valley?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Circle Cross Ranch, Pecan Creek, and Castlegate. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare San Tan Valley with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Tan Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Tan Valley 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 Tan Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Tan Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Tan Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Tan Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Tan Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Tan Valley 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.