Best PlacesSnowflake, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Snowflake, 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.
Snowflake ranks 11,717th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Snowflake
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.
Snowflake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Snowflake ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 170 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of towns
- TransitBetter than 89% of towns
Where Snowflake ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 23% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Snowflake
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Snowflake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,174, 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 Snowflake's effective rate of 0.35%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Snowflake
Snowflake 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 Snowflake.
Who works in Snowflake, and how
Work in Snowflake centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Snowflake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Snowflake.
What the weather is like in Snowflake, month by month
Snowflake sees roughly 170 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 33° | 23° |
| April | 67° | 52° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 69° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Snowflake
The nearest airport, Show Low Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 134 miles away.
The best schools in and around Snowflake
Schools across Snowflake average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Highland Primary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Mountain Meadows PrimaryB · 50% proficient
- Taylor Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Snowflake Intermediate SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Snowflake Junior High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Mogollon Jr High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Snowflake High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- St Johns High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Mogollon High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Snowflake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Snowflake 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 Snowflake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Snowflake
Is Snowflake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Snowflake ranks 11,717th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, the weather, and low disaster risk, 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 Snowflake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $270,836. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $77,174 median income, cost of living beats 29% of towns.
Is Snowflake safe?
Snowflake is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $318 per resident a year.
Compare Snowflake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Snowflake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Snowflake 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.
Snowflake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Snowflake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Snowflake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Snowflake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Snowflake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Snowflake 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.