Best PlacesTucson, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Tucson metro, 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.
Photo by mannymisfit, Unsplash License, via unsplash
Tucson ranks 207th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on the weather and biking. The weaker spots are tree cover, summer heat, and air quality.
The best neighborhoods in the Tucson 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 Tucson
The towns and districts of the Tucson 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.
Catalina Foothills & Tanque Verde
More adults hold degrees, schools score higher, and health care is easier to reach.
Summit, Vail & Corona de Tucson
More households have young kids and crime runs lower.
Marana & Casas Adobes
Local pay stretches further and incomes run higher.
Oro Valley & Flowing Wells
Heat risk is higher and more homes sit empty.
Downtown Tucson
Biking is better and transit reaches more jobs.
Tucson Estates
It is quieter, though streets are more car-dependent.
Sahuarita & Green Valley
Homes cost less.
South Tucson
Fewer residents vote and prices have run up more.
Drexel Heights & Valencia West
Disaster risk is higher and commutes are longer.
Tucson shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Tucson's strengths and weaknesses
Tucson lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. The weather, biking, and cell coverage carry most of that.
The one real hole is tree cover, near the bottom of the country. Summer heat and air quality also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Tucson ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 178 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of metro areas
- BikingBetter than 94% of metro areas
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than 91% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 70% of metro areas
Where Tucson ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of metro areas
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of metro areas
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of metro areas
- School gradeC−, better than only 20% of metro areas
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 25% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Tucson
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tucson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $79,360; 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 Tucson's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Tucson
Tucson's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Tucson.
Who works in Tucson, and how
Work in Tucson centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Tucson
Tucson has less parkland per resident than most metro areas. That concentrates in some parts of Tucson and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Tucson growing, and who is moving in?
Tucson has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Phoenix, AZ.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Tucson go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Tucson, month by month
Tucson sees roughly 178 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 103 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through April, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 51° | 38° |
| April | 86° | 69° | 51° |
| July | 103° | 88° | 76° |
| October | 89° | 73° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Tucson
The nearest airport, Tucson International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tucson
Schools across Tucson average a C−, better than 20% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Basis Oro Valley PrimaryA+ · 79% proficient
- Ocotillo Ridge ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Senita Valley Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top middle schools
- Orange Grove Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Esperero Canyon Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Lawrence W Cross Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- University High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Basis Oro ValleyA+ · 87% proficient
- Basis Tucson NorthA · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tucson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tucson 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 Tucson against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Tucson suits
Common questions about living in Tucson
Is Tucson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tucson ranks 207th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on the weather, biking, and cell coverage, and lowest on tree cover and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tucson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $330,130. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $79,360 median income, cost of living beats 41% of metro areas.
Is Tucson safe?
Tucson is safer than 29% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $426 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Tucson?
July highs average about 103 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 38. That works out to about 178 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Tucson?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Catalina Foothills & Tanque Verde, Summit, Vail & Corona de Tucson, and Marana & Casas Adobes. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Tucson good for families?
Schools beat 20% of metro areas, crime safety beats 29%, and childcare runs $989 a month.
Is Tucson good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 41% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 36% of metro areas. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Tucson with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tucson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tucson 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.
Tucson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tucson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tucson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tucson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tucson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tucson 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.