Best PlacesVail, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Vail, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Vail ranks 2,131st 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 Vail
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.
Vail's strengths and weaknesses
Where Vail ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 175 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of towns
- Household income$128,223 median, better than 95% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 93% of towns
Where Vail ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cheap childcare$989 a month, better than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Vail
A household needs to earn about $111,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vail home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $128,223, 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 Vail's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Vail
Vail runs older 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 Vail.
Who works in Vail, and how
Work in Vail centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Vail
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Vail.
What the weather is like in Vail, month by month
Vail sees roughly 175 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 Vail
The nearest airport, Tucson International, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 123 miles away.
The best schools in and around Vail
Schools across Vail average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ocotillo Ridge ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Senita Valley Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Esmond Station SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Corona Foothills Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Old Vail Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Cienega High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Andrada Polytechnic High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vail school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vail 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 Vail against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Vail suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 21% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 97% of towns and health care access beats 70%.
Common questions about living in Vail
Is Vail a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vail ranks 2,131st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on air quality and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Vail expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $430,140. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $128,223 median income, cost of living beats 96% of towns.
Is Vail safe?
Yes, Vail is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $199 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Vail?
July highs average about 103 degrees, and January highs near 68 with lows near 38. That works out to about 175 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of towns.
Is Vail good for families?
Schools beat 68% of towns, crime safety beats 89%, and childcare runs $989 a month.
Compare Vail with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vail. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vail 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.
Vail detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vail: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vail: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vail: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vail: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vail 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.