Best PlacesWhite Mountain Lake, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around White Mountain Lake, 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.
White Mountain Lake ranks 40,347th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in White Mountain Lake
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.
White Mountain Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where White Mountain Lake ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 187 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 86% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 76% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 58% of towns
Where White Mountain Lake ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in White Mountain Lake
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median White Mountain Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,861, 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 White Mountain Lake's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 White Mountain Lake
White Mountain Lake'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 White Mountain Lake.
Who works in White Mountain Lake, and how
Work in White Mountain Lake centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in White Mountain Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across White Mountain Lake.
What the weather is like in White Mountain Lake, month by month
White Mountain Lake sees roughly 187 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 White Mountain Lake
The nearest airport, Show Low Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 133 miles away.
The best schools in and around White Mountain Lake
Schools across White Mountain Lake average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Highland Primary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Taylor Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Nikolaus Homestead Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Snowflake Intermediate SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Snowflake Junior High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Show Low Junior High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Snowflake High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Show Low High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every White Mountain Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
White Mountain Lake 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 White Mountain Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in White Mountain Lake
Is White Mountain Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, White Mountain Lake ranks 40,347th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, a strong job market, and low property taxes, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is White Mountain Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $213,084. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $53,861 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is White Mountain Lake safe?
White Mountain Lake is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $344 per resident a year.
Compare White Mountain Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to White Mountain Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in White Mountain Lake 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.
White Mountain Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for White Mountain Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in White Mountain Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of White Mountain Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in White Mountain Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
White Mountain Lake 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.