Best PlacesSierra Vista, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Sierra Vista metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Tundrabuggy ( talk ), via wiki
Sierra Vista ranks 291st of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. It does better on the weather, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in the Sierra Vista metro
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 Sierra Vista
The towns and districts of the Sierra Vista metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Sierra Vista Southeast
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and fewer homes sit empty.
Downtown Sierra Vista
More households have young kids and biking is better.
Bisbee
It is quieter and health care is easier to reach.
Benson & Pomerene
Prices have run up more and commutes are longer.
Willcox
Fewer residents vote and fewer adults hold degrees.
Douglas
Homes cost less, though crime runs higher.
Sierra Vista shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 4%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Sierra Vista's strengths and weaknesses
Sierra Vista ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. The weather, quiet, and a stable housing market carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: the cost of living against local pay, low incomes, and air quality all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Sierra Vista ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 166 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than 92% of metro areas
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 79% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 70% of metro areas
Where Sierra Vista ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 5% of metro areas
- Household income$63,430 median, better than only 7% of metro areas
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of metro areas
- School gradeC−, better than only 10% of metro areas
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Sierra Vista
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sierra Vista home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,430, 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 Sierra Vista'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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sierra Vista
Sierra Vista runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sierra Vista.
Who works in Sierra Vista, and how
Work in Sierra Vista centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Sierra Vista
Sierra Vista has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of metro areas and less late-night activity than most metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sierra Vista and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sierra Vista growing, and who is moving in?
Sierra Vista has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Phoenix, AZ.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sierra Vista go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sierra Vista, month by month
Sierra Vista sees roughly 166 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 47° | 33° |
| April | 80° | 64° | 48° |
| July | 93° | 80° | 68° |
| October | 83° | 67° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Sierra Vista
The nearest airport, Tucson International, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sierra Vista
Schools across Sierra Vista average a C−, better than 10% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Leman Academy Of Excellence-sierra VistaB · 48% proficient
- Huachuca Mountain Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Pueblo Del Sol Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Joyce Clark Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Lowell SchoolF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- St David High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Buena High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Willcox High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sierra Vista school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sierra Vista 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 Sierra Vista against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Sierra Vista suits
Retirees
The weather beats 92% of metro areas and it is quieter than 92%.
Common questions about living in Sierra Vista
Is Sierra Vista a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sierra Vista ranks 291st of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on the weather, quiet, and a stable housing market, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sierra Vista expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $219,235. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $63,430 median income, cost of living beats 5% of metro areas.
Is Sierra Vista safe?
Sierra Vista is safer than 44% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $380 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sierra Vista?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 63 with lows near 33. That works out to about 166 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sierra Vista?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sierra Vista Southeast, Downtown Sierra Vista, and Bisbee. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Sierra Vista good for families?
Schools beat 10% of metro areas, crime safety beats 44%, and childcare runs $843 a month.
Is Sierra Vista good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 5% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 10% of metro areas. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Sierra Vista with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sierra Vista. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sierra Vista 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.
Sierra Vista detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sierra Vista: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sierra Vista: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sierra Vista: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sierra Vista: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sierra Vista 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.