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!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Arizona test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the test scores by the Arizona Department of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.

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Rank (of 98)	City	# Elementary Schools	# Middle Schools	# High Schools	# Alt. Schools	# Private Schools*	Rank score (2024)	Rank (2023)	Rank change from 2023
1^st	Sun Lakes	1	0	0	0	0	0.979	1
2^nd	Paradise Valley	3	0	0	0	5	0.978	7	5
3^rd	Parks	1	0	0	0	0	0.955	39	36
4^th	Fort Huachuca	3	0	0	0	0	0.879	2	2
5^th	Cave Creek	2	0	1	0	6	0.851	10	5
6^th	Oro Valley	5	0	4	0	3	0.843	3	3
7^th	Colorado City	1	0	1	1	0	0.839	5	2
8^th	Anthem	4	0	3	1	1	0.834	11	3
9^th	Corona De Tucson	2	1	0	0	0	0.814	4	5
10^th	Scottsdale	35	6	14	4	33	0.798	12	2
11^th	Many Farms	2	0	1	0	0	0.795	148	137
12^th	Sun City	2	0	0	0	0	0.78	6	6
13^th	Vail	2	1	3	0	1	0.78	18	5
14^th	Taylor	0	1	1	0	0	0.759	40	26
15^th	Prescott	9	1	11	1	7	0.746	34	19
16^th	Snowflake	4	2	3	0	0	0.731	35	19
17^th	Desert Hills	1	0	0	0	0	0.729	9	8
18^th	Gilbert	44	4	21	9	15	0.722	17	1
19^th	Saint Johns	1	1	5	0	0	0.696	8	11
20^th	Queen Creek	16	4	13	6	2	0.682	19	1
21^st	Chandler	44	7	14	4	19	0.662	30	9
22^nd	Tsaile	1	0	0	0	0	0.659	71	49
23^rd	Peoria	30	0	16	2	14	0.646	41	18
24^th	Surprise	19	1	13	2	2	0.633	21	3
25^th	Waddell	1	0	3	0	0	0.632	25
26^th	Heber	0	2	2	0	0	0.626	24	2
27^th	Thatcher	2	1	4	0	0	0.608	28	1
28^th	Goodyear	16	1	10	1	8	0.607	32	4
29^th	Flagstaff	16	2	14	3	4	0.572	55	26
30^th	Fort Mohave	3	0	2	0	1	0.57	91	61
31^st	Lake Havasu City	8	1	5	0	1	0.562	54	23
32^nd	Sahuarita	6	1	5	1	0	0.559	42	10
33^rd	Hereford	1	0	0	0	0	0.553	56	23
34^th	Pima	2	1	3	1	0	0.543	47	13
35^th	Sierra Vista	9	1	7	2	3	0.541	64	29
36^th	Tombstone	1	0	2	0	0	0.541	48	12
37^th	Green Valley	2	0	0	1	0	0.535	107	70
38^th	Benson	1	1	3	1	1	0.535	44	6
39^th	Litchfield Park	7	3	0	0	3	0.534	38	1
40^th	Nogales	9	2	7	3	4	0.533	101	61
41^st	Prescott Valley	7	2	6	2	1	0.523	70	29
42^nd	Tempe	25	6	24	1	15	0.52	61	19
43^rd	Marana	5	1	3	1	0	0.508	90	47
44^th	Mesa	88	16	31	15	22	0.506	65	21
45^th	Bullhead City	7	2	4	0	0	0.495	68	23
46^th	Clarkdale	2	0	0	0	0	0.495	31	15
47^th	Tucson	143	39	105	29	61	0.482	93	46
48^th	Show Low	3	1	7	3	4	0.47	96	48
49^th	Morenci	1	1	2	0	0	0.463	37	12
50^th	Oracle	1	0	0	0	0	0.456	115	65
51^st	Eagar	1	1	2	1	0	0.446	52	1
52^nd	Glendale	55	2	38	3	15	0.432	83	31
53^rd	Douglas	7	3	4	1	1	0.427	112	59
54^th	Phoenix	260	47	125	30	72	0.426	110	56
55^th	Lakeside	1	1	3	1	1	0.422	66	11
56^th	Fountain Hills	1	1	3	1	1	0.418	49	7
57^th	Palo Verde	1	0	0	0	0	0.408	67	10
58^th	Maricopa	8	2	7	3	0	0.403	73	15
59^th	Safford	4	1	4	0	0	0.398	92	33
60^th	Buckeye	20	1	13	2	1	0.392	84	24
61^st	Laveen	12	0	3	1	1	0.384	80	19
62^nd	Rimrock	1	0	1	0	3	0.376	114	52
63^rd	Yuma	26	7	19	2	6	0.376	105	42
64^th	Gadsden	1	0	0	0	0	0.375	82	18
65^th	San Tan Valley	15	1	5	2	2	0.37	88	23
66^th	Globe	2	1	4	2	0	0.358	89	23
67^th	Kingman	9	4	7	1	1	0.351	95	28
68^th	Willcox	2	1	3	0	0	0.349	78	10
69^th	Avondale	17	2	13	0	4	0.34	108	39
70^th	Chino Valley	4	1	3	0	0	0.34	118	48
71^st	Cottonwood	5	0	7	3	3	0.322	103	32
72^nd	Florence	2	0	5	4	1	0.317	119	47
73^rd	Wittmann	1	0	2	0	0	0.302	140	67
74^th	Somerton	6	1	3	0	0	0.298	116	42
75^th	Casa Grande	14	4	11	0	3	0.29	124	49
76^th	El Mirage	5	0	2	0	1	0.286	97	21
77^th	Payson	2	1	5	1	1	0.285	72	5
78^th	Chinle	4	1	2	2	0	0.282	150	72
79^th	Golden Valley	1	0	0	0	0	0.279	151	72
80^th	San Luis	7	2	3	0	0	0.274	120	40
81^st	Apache Junction	5	2	5	0	0	0.263	126	45
82^nd	Red Rock	1	0	0	0	0	0.261	100	18
83^rd	Mohave Valley	3	0	3	0	0	0.254	104	21
84^th	Holbrook	2	1	5	1	1	0.253	109	25
85^th	Dewey	1	1	0	0	0	0.249	57	28
86^th	Wickenburg	1	1	2	1	2	0.245	58	28
87^th	Tolleson	9	1	6	0	0	0.229	125	38
88^th	Parker	3	1	4	0	0	0.201	137	49
89^th	Winslow	6	1	5	1	3	0.195	128	39
90^th	Tonopah	1	0	2	2	0	0.193	122	32
91^st	Rio Rico	4	1	2	1	1	0.179	123	32
92^nd	Camp Verde	3	1	5	1	1	0.176	132	40
93^rd	Coolidge	7	1	5	1	0	0.104	144	51
94^th	Guadalupe	1	0	0	0	0	0.091	166	72
95^th	Kayenta	4	1	3	0	0	0.078	160	65
96^th	Fort Defiance	1	2	2	0	0	0.078	149	53
97^th	Page	3	1	5	1	1	0.053	131	34
98^th	Arizona City	1	0	0	0	0	0.032	176	78

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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 September 25, 2024, 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.

Educational resources:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Arizona Department of Education.