Best PlacesSanta Cruz County, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Santa Cruz County, 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.
Santa Cruz County ranks 2,732nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Santa Cruz County
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.
Santa Cruz County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Santa Cruz County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 150 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 73% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 72% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 67% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 66% of counties
Where Santa Cruz County ranks low
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 7% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Santa Cruz County
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Santa Cruz County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $57,282; 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 Santa Cruz County's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Santa Cruz County.
Who works in Santa Cruz County, and how
Work in Santa Cruz County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Santa Cruz County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Santa Cruz County growing, and who is moving in?
Santa Cruz County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Tucson, AZ.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Santa Cruz County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Santa Cruz County, month by month
Santa Cruz County sees roughly 150 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 48° | 31° |
| April | 84° | 64° | 44° |
| July | 97° | 81° | 67° |
| October | 87° | 68° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Santa Cruz County
The nearest airport, Tucson International, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 151 miles away.
The best schools in and around Santa Cruz County
Schools across Santa Cruz County average a D, better than 5% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mexicayotl Charter SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Continental Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Elgin Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Coatimundi Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Desert Shadows Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Wade Carpenter Middle SchoolF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Patagonia Union High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Pinnacle Charter High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Edoptions Preparatory AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Santa Cruz County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Santa Cruz County 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 Santa Cruz County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Santa Cruz County suits
Common questions about living in Santa Cruz County
Is Santa Cruz County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Santa Cruz County ranks 2,732nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, low taxes, and population health, and lowest on the schools and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Santa Cruz County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $236,331. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $57,282 median income, cost of living beats 20% of counties.
Is Santa Cruz County safe?
Santa Cruz County is safer than 21% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $523 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Santa Cruz County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 31. That works out to about 150 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of counties.
Is Santa Cruz County good for families?
Schools beat 5% of counties, crime safety beats 21%, and childcare runs $843 a month.
Compare Santa Cruz County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Santa Cruz County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Santa Cruz County 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.
Santa Cruz County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Santa Cruz County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Santa Cruz County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Santa Cruz County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Santa Cruz County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Santa Cruz County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.