Best PlacesSunizona, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sunizona, 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.
Sunizona ranks 39,250th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sunizona
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.
Sunizona's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sunizona ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 153 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- QuietBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 80% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 77% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 76% of towns
Where Sunizona ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Short commute36.5 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sunizona
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sunizona home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,043, 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 Sunizona's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Sunizona
Sunizona 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 Sunizona.
Who works in Sunizona, and how
Work in Sunizona centers on agriculture & forestry and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Sunizona
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sunizona.
What the weather is like in Sunizona, month by month
Sunizona sees roughly 153 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 44° | 26° |
| April | 82° | 63° | 41° |
| July | 97° | 81° | 66° |
| October | 85° | 66° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Sunizona
The nearest airport, Tucson International, is about 82 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 178 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sunizona
Schools across Sunizona average a D+, better than 14% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Elfrida Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Ash Creek ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Willcox High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Valley Union High SchoolF · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sunizona school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sunizona 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 Sunizona against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sunizona
Is Sunizona a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sunizona ranks 39,250th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, quiet, and a strong job market, and lowest on air quality and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sunizona expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,032. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $51,043 median income, cost of living beats 13% of towns.
Is Sunizona safe?
Sunizona is safer than 42% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $345 per resident a year.
Compare Sunizona with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sunizona. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sunizona 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.
Sunizona detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sunizona: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sunizona: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sunizona: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sunizona: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sunizona 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.