Best PlacesYuma County, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Yuma County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Yuma County ranks 2,238th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on summer heat and a weak job market. It does better on the weather, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Yuma County
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 Yuma County
The parts of Yuma County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Fortuna Foothills
Health care is easier to reach, more residents vote, and crime runs lower.
Yuma
Biking is better, though it is noisier.
San Luis & Somerton
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Avenue B and C
More households have young kids, though incomes run lower.
Scores across Yuma County run from about the 2nd to the 89th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Yuma County's strengths and weaknesses
Yuma County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. The weather is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Cell coverage and biking follow.
The one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. A weak job market and tree cover also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Yuma County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 212 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of counties
- BikingBetter than 92% of counties
- TransitBetter than 89% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 77% of counties
Where Yuma County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 3% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Yuma County
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Yuma County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,482, 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 Yuma County's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Yuma County
Yuma County'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 Yuma County.
Who works in Yuma County, and how
Work in Yuma County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Yuma County
Yuma County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 74% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Yuma County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Yuma County growing, and who is moving in?
Yuma County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Phoenix, AZ.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Yuma County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Yuma County, month by month
Yuma County sees roughly 212 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 109 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs November through April.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 58° | 45° |
| April | 90° | 74° | 59° |
| July | 109° | 96° | 83° |
| October | 93° | 78° | 65° |
Flying in and out of Yuma County
The nearest airport, Yuma MCAS/Yuma International, is about 1 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is San Diego International, about 150 miles away.
The best schools in and around Yuma County
Schools across Yuma County average a D+, better than 10% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Desert View AcademyB+ · 51% proficient
- Yuma District One Digital Learning AcademyB · 50% proficient
- Sentinel Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crane Middle SchoolD · 24% proficient
- Ron Watson Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Centennial Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- San Pasqual Valley HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Ppep Tec - Jose Yepez Learning CenterD+ · 25% proficient
- Desert View Middle & High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Yuma County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Yuma County 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 Yuma County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Yuma County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Yuma County
Is Yuma County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Yuma County ranks 2,238th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, cell coverage, and biking, and lowest on summer heat and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Yuma County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $230,680. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $70,482 median income, cost of living beats 38% of counties.
Is Yuma County safe?
Yuma County is safer than 24% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $482 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Yuma County?
July highs average about 109 degrees, and January highs near 71 with lows near 45. That works out to about 212 pleasant days a year, more than 100% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Yuma County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fortuna Foothills, Yuma, and San Luis & Somerton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Yuma County good for families?
Schools beat 10% of counties, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $800 a month.
Is Yuma County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 38% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 60% of counties. About 9% of workers already work from home.
Compare Yuma County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Yuma County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Yuma County 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.
Yuma County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Yuma County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Yuma County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Yuma County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Yuma County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Yuma County 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.