Best PlacesScottsdale, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Scottsdale, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Scottsdale ranks 52nd of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $127,048, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are summer heat, air quality, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Scottsdale
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 Scottsdale
The parts of Scottsdale, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Pinnacle Peak
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and it is quieter.
North Scottsdale
Fewer homes sit empty and crime runs lower.
Paradise Valley
More households have young kids and biking is better.
Deer Valley
Heat risk is lower, though streets are more car-dependent.
Camelback East
Transit reaches more jobs, though schools score lower.
South Scottsdale
Homes cost less, though fewer residents vote.
Scottsdale shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Scottsdale's strengths and weaknesses
Scottsdale ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low property taxes is the standout, in the top 1% of cities. Health care access and an educated workforce follow.
The one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. Air quality and an overheated housing market also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Scottsdale ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of cities
- Household income$127,048 median, better than 89% of cities
Where Scottsdale ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Scottsdale
A household needs to earn about $205,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Scottsdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $127,048, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Scottsdale's effective rate of 0.37%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Scottsdale
Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale.
Who works in Scottsdale, and how
Work in Scottsdale centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 31%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Scottsdale
Scottsdale has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of cities and more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Scottsdale and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Scottsdale, month by month
Scottsdale sees roughly 199 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 108 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through April, November, and December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 54° | 41° |
| April | 87° | 73° | 58° |
| July | 108° | 96° | 83° |
| October | 90° | 76° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Scottsdale
Phoenix Sky Harbor International sits about 13 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.2 million passengers in 2025, with 177 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Scottsdale
Schools across Scottsdale average a B−, better than 66% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Basis Scottsdale Primary - East CampusA+ · 90% proficient
- Franklin At Brimhall ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Basis Scottsdale Primary - West CampusA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Franklin Junior High SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Cocopah Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Desert Canyon Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Great Hearts Academies - Scottsdale PrepA · 71% proficient
- Great Hearts Academies - Cicero PrepB+ · 58% proficient
- Pinnacle High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Scottsdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Scottsdale 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 Scottsdale against the other 444 cities.
Who Scottsdale suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of cities and 31% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 86% of cities, health care access beats 99%, and it is quieter than 78%.
Common questions about living in Scottsdale
Is Scottsdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Scottsdale ranks 52nd of 445 cities. It scores highest on low property taxes, health care access, and an educated workforce, and lowest on summer heat and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Scottsdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $834,445. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $127,048 median income, cost of living beats 89% of cities.
Is Scottsdale safe?
Yes, Scottsdale is safer than 58% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $399 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Scottsdale?
July highs average about 108 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 41. That works out to about 199 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Scottsdale?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Pinnacle Peak, North Scottsdale, and Paradise Valley. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Scottsdale good for families?
Schools beat 66% of cities, crime safety beats 58%, and childcare runs $1,109 a month.
Is Scottsdale good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 16% of cities. About 31% of workers already work from home.
Compare Scottsdale with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Scottsdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Scottsdale 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.
Scottsdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Scottsdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Scottsdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Scottsdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Scottsdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Scottsdale 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.