Best Cities in Arizona for Schools

Welcome to SchoolDigger, your premier source for city-wide school rankings! Our user-friendly platform focuses on test scores, presenting a transparent, data-driven comparison to help you navigate the educational scene. Explore top-rated cities in Arizona and make informed decisions for your child's academic future. With our comprehensive database, uncover the best-performing schools within each city, evaluate their performance, and gain valuable insights. Trust SchoolDigger.com to guide you in finding the perfect city for your child's education. Embark on your journey to academic success right here!

New rankings! SchoolDigger recently updated its Arizona rankings with newly released test scores for the 2025-26 school year.

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Test scores delayed: 2026 rankings for Arizona do not yet include the AzSCI Science tests, which have not yet been released by the Arizona Department of Education

Rank (of 99)	City	# Elementary Schools	# Middle Schools	# High Schools	# Alt. Schools	# Private Schools*	Rank score (2026)	Rank (2025)	Rank change from 2025
1^st	Sun Lakes	1	0	0	0	0	0.993	2	1
2^nd	Paradise Valley	3	0	0	0	5	0.966	3	1
3^rd	Elgin	1	0	0	0	0	0.942		(n/a)
4^th	Oro Valley	5	1	4	0	3	0.877	5	1
5^th	Sun City	2	0	0	0	0	0.829	10	5
6^th	Colorado City	1	0	1	1	0	0.826	4	2
7^th	Anthem	4	0	3	0	1	0.809	8	1
8^th	Taylor	1	0	1	0	0	0.809	17	9
9^th	Scottsdale	33	6	15	5	34	0.805	12	3
10^th	Vail	2	1	3	0	1	0.789	15	5
11^th	Corona De Tucson	2	1	0	0	0	0.779	11
12^th	Prescott	7	1	11	1	7	0.778	16	4
13^th	Gilbert	44	4	23	7	21	0.777	19	6
14^th	Fort Huachuca	3	0	0	0	0	0.773	7	7
15^th	Saint Johns	1	1	5	0	0	0.766	21	6
16^th	Many Farms	2	0	1	0	0	0.762	6	10
17^th	Snowflake	3	2	3	0	0	0.734	14	3
18^th	Tsaile	1	0	0	0	0	0.73	13	5
19^th	Desert Hills	1	0	0	0	0	0.73	18	1
20^th	Queen Creek	16	4	14	6	2	0.715	20
21^st	Heber	0	2	2	0	0	0.675	28	7
22^nd	Chandler	41	7	18	4	23	0.65	24	2
23^rd	Cave Creek	1	0	1	0	6	0.646	9	14
24^th	Surprise	19	2	12	2	2	0.633	25	1
25^th	Goodyear	16	1	11	1	8	0.628	30	5
26^th	Peoria	30	0	16	2	16	0.604	26
27^th	Clarkdale	1	0	0	0	0	0.604	38	11
28^th	Green Valley	1	0	0	1	0	0.586	27	1
29^th	Tombstone	1	0	2	0	0	0.578	37	8
30^th	Waddell	1	0	3	0	0	0.575	29	1
31^st	Marana	6	1	4	1	0	0.573	45	14
32^nd	Fort Mohave	2	0	2	1	1	0.567	53	21
33^rd	Litchfield Park	8	1	0	0	3	0.566	35	2
34^th	Prescott Valley	7	3	6	2	1	0.558	33	1
35^th	Show Low	4	1	6	4	4	0.555	48	13
36^th	Sierra Vista	10	0	7	2	3	0.551	42	6
37^th	Flagstaff	16	2	14	3	4	0.55	36	1
38^th	Joseph City	1	1	2	0	0	0.542	22	16
39^th	Thatcher	2	1	4	0	0	0.541	32	7
40^th	Sahuarita	6	1	5	1	0	0.53	41	1
41^st	Mesa	86	15	33	18	28	0.528	47	6
42^nd	Tempe	24	6	24	1	16	0.528	43	1
43^rd	Benson	1	1	3	1	1	0.51	39	4
44^th	Pima	2	1	3	1	0	0.504	44
45^th	Lake Havasu City	8	1	5	0	1	0.503	46	1
46^th	Tucson	144	36	104	28	65	0.494	55	9
47^th	Bullhead City	7	2	4	0	1	0.489	51	4
48^th	Morenci	1	1	2	0	0	0.452	50	2
49^th	Chinle	4	1	2	2	0	0.44	74	25
50^th	Eagar	1	1	2	1	0	0.439	54	4
51^st	Safford	4	1	4	0	0	0.438	58	7
52^nd	Phoenix	252	45	122	31	80	0.434	57	5
53^rd	Glendale	56	2	38	3	18	0.427	56	3
54^th	Red Rock	1	0	0	0	0	0.414	63	9
55^th	Fountain Hills	1	1	3	1	3	0.405	49	6
56^th	Buckeye	21	1	13	2	1	0.393	69	13
57^th	Ganado	5	1	2	0	0	0.392	102	45
58^th	Laveen	11	0	3	1	3	0.392	61	3
59^th	Cottonwood	6	0	8	3	3	0.391	68	9
60^th	San Tan Valley	15	2	5	3	1	0.386	66	6
61^st	Wittmann	1	0	3	0	0	0.382	88	27
62^nd	Maricopa	8	2	8	3	0	0.379	59	3
63^rd	Douglas	6	3	4	1	1	0.373	80	17
64^th	Apache Junction	7	2	6	0	1	0.361	86	22
65^th	Lakeside	1	1	2	0	1	0.36	65
66^th	San Luis	8	2	3	0	0	0.358	85	19
67^th	Wickenburg	1	1	2	1	2	0.356	72	5
68^th	Chino Valley	4	1	3	0	0	0.351	77	9
69^th	Globe	2	1	4	2	0	0.344	71	2
70^th	Yuma	26	7	20	2	6	0.344	82	12
71^st	Dewey	1	1	0	0	0	0.343	64	7
72^nd	El Mirage	5	0	2	0	1	0.342	79	7
73^rd	Florence	2	1	5	3	1	0.339	83	10
74^th	Kingman	8	4	7	1	1	0.337	75	1
75^th	Holbrook	2	1	5	1	1	0.335	92	17
76^th	Palo Verde	1	0	0	0	0	0.335	67	9
77^th	Mohave Valley	3	0	3	0	1	0.334	70	7
78^th	Somerton	6	1	3	0	0	0.332	78
79^th	Avondale	17	2	15	0	4	0.329	84	5
80^th	Nogales	9	2	7	3	4	0.326	62	18
81^st	Casa Grande	14	3	11	0	3	0.314	81
82^nd	Willcox	2	1	3	0	0	0.311	96	14
83^rd	Payson	2	1	5	1	1	0.289	76	7
84^th	Winslow	6	1	5	0	3	0.261	93	9
85^th	Fort Defiance	1	2	2	0	0	0.237	100	15
86^th	Indian Wells	1	0	0	0	0	0.233	90	4
87^th	Rio Rico	4	1	2	0	1	0.223	95	8
88^th	Tolleson	10	0	9	0	0	0.21	91	3
89^th	Parker	3	1	4	0	0	0.21	98	9
90^th	Camp Verde	2	1	4	1	2	0.208	89	1
91^st	Kayenta	4	1	3	0	0	0.179	105	14
92^nd	Coolidge	7	1	5	1	0	0.163	97	5
93^rd	Gadsden	1	0	0	0	0	0.16	73	20
94^th	Tonopah	1	0	2	2	0	0.16	99	5
95^th	Guadalupe	1	0	0	0	0	0.11	94	1
96^th	Sells	4	2	2	0	1	0.089		(n/a)
97^th	Golden Valley	1	0	0	0	0	0.078	87	10
98^th	Page	3	1	5	1	1	0.067	104	6
99^th	San Carlos	1	2	0	3	1	0.004		(n/a)

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About our rankings:

* Private schools are not used in determining city rank.
Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on test scores released by the Arizona Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 13, 2026, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Arizona Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Arizona Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

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