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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

NOTE: 2024 rankings for Arizona schools were revised on November 25^th after the AZ Department of Education's recent release of the 2024 AzSci scores.

Rank (of 103)	City	# Elementary Schools	# Middle Schools	# High Schools	# Alt. Schools	# Private Schools*	Rank score (2024)	Rank (2023)	Rank change from 2023
1^st	Paradise Valley	3	0	0	0	5	0.982	7	6
2^nd	Sun Lakes	1	0	0	0	0	0.981	1	1
3^rd	Parks	1	0	0	0	0	0.958	39	36
4^th	Fort Huachuca	3	0	0	0	0	0.885	2	2
5^th	Cornville	2	0	0	0	0	0.865	59	54
6^th	Anthem	4	0	3	1	1	0.859	11	5
7^th	Cave Creek	2	0	1	0	6	0.85	10	3
8^th	Oro Valley	5	0	4	0	3	0.843	3	5
9^th	Corona De Tucson	2	1	0	0	0	0.831	4	5
10^th	Colorado City	1	0	1	1	0	0.827	5	5
11^th	Many Farms	2	0	1	0	0	0.799	148	137
12^th	Vail	2	1	3	0	1	0.786	18	6
13^th	Scottsdale	35	6	14	4	33	0.785	12	1
14^th	Taylor	0	1	1	0	0	0.782	40	26
15^th	Sun City	2	0	0	0	0	0.776	6	9
16^th	Snowflake	4	2	3	0	0	0.754	35	19
17^th	Prescott	9	1	11	1	7	0.745	34	17
18^th	Desert Hills	1	0	0	0	0	0.742	9	9
19^th	Saint Johns	1	1	5	0	0	0.716	8	11
20^th	Gilbert	44	4	21	9	15	0.708	17	3
21^st	Queen Creek	16	4	13	6	2	0.668	19	2
22^nd	Chandler	44	7	14	4	19	0.658	30	8
23^rd	Tsaile	1	0	0	0	0	0.65	71	48
24^th	Thatcher	2	1	4	0	0	0.643	28	4
25^th	Peoria	30	0	16	2	14	0.641	41	16
26^th	Surprise	19	1	13	2	2	0.636	21	5
27^th	Tombstone	1	0	2	0	0	0.633	48	21
28^th	Heber	0	2	2	0	0	0.629	24	4
29^th	Waddell	1	0	3	0	0	0.612	25	4
30^th	Goodyear	16	1	10	1	8	0.599	32	2
31^st	Flagstaff	16	2	14	3	4	0.592	55	24
32^nd	Lake Havasu City	8	1	5	0	1	0.587	54	22
33^rd	Joseph City	1	1	2	0	0	0.583	46	13
34^th	Benson	1	1	3	1	1	0.559	44	10
35^th	Fort Mohave	3	0	2	0	1	0.558	91	56
36^th	Hereford	1	0	0	0	0	0.552	56	20
37^th	Sierra Vista	9	1	7	2	3	0.551	64	27
38^th	Sahuarita	6	1	5	1	0	0.549	42	4
39^th	Clarkdale	2	0	0	0	0	0.547	31	8
40^th	Pima	2	1	3	1	0	0.543	47	7
41^st	Green Valley	2	0	0	1	0	0.537	107	66
42^nd	Tempe	25	6	24	1	15	0.535	61	19
43^rd	Nogales	9	2	7	3	4	0.528	101	58
44^th	Prescott Valley	7	2	6	2	1	0.525	70	26
45^th	Litchfield Park	7	3	0	0	3	0.523	38	7
46^th	Marana	5	1	3	1	0	0.515	90	44
47^th	Mesa	88	16	31	15	22	0.5	65	18
48^th	Bullhead City	7	2	4	0	0	0.498	68	20
49^th	Saint David	1	0	2	0	0	0.498	76	27
50^th	Mayer	1	0	2	0	1	0.489	142	92
51^st	Morenci	1	1	2	0	0	0.487	37	14
52^nd	Tucson	143	39	105	29	61	0.484	93	41
53^rd	Show Low	3	1	7	3	4	0.48	96	43
54^th	Eagar	1	1	2	1	0	0.463	52	2
55^th	Fountain Hills	1	1	3	1	1	0.446	49	6
56^th	Oracle	1	0	0	0	0	0.432	115	59
57^th	Phoenix	260	47	125	30	72	0.43	110	53
58^th	Douglas	7	3	4	1	1	0.429	112	54
59^th	Glendale	55	2	38	3	15	0.428	83	24
60^th	Lakeside	1	1	3	1	1	0.427	66	6
61^st	Cottonwood	5	0	7	3	3	0.426	103	42
62^nd	Palo Verde	1	0	0	0	0	0.409	67	5
63^rd	Maricopa	8	2	7	3	0	0.404	73	10
64^th	Rimrock	1	0	1	0	3	0.401	114	50
65^th	Safford	4	1	4	0	0	0.395	92	27
66^th	Buckeye	20	1	13	2	1	0.391	84	18
67^th	Laveen	12	0	3	1	1	0.386	80	13
68^th	San Tan Valley	15	1	5	2	2	0.363	88	20
69^th	Gadsden	1	0	0	0	0	0.356	82	13
70^th	Yuma	26	7	19	2	6	0.354	105	35
71^st	Globe	2	1	4	2	0	0.352	89	18
72^nd	Chino Valley	4	1	3	0	0	0.35	118	46
73^rd	Willcox	2	1	3	0	0	0.349	78	5
74^th	Kingman	9	4	7	1	1	0.346	95	21
75^th	Avondale	17	2	13	0	4	0.332	108	33
76^th	Florence	2	0	5	4	1	0.328	119	43
77^th	Wittmann	1	0	2	0	0	0.322	140	63
78^th	Payson	2	1	5	1	1	0.309	72	6
79^th	Red Rock	1	0	0	0	0	0.298	100	21
80^th	Somerton	6	1	3	0	0	0.298	116	36
81^st	Casa Grande	14	4	11	0	3	0.292	124	43
82^nd	El Mirage	5	0	2	0	1	0.285	97	15
83^rd	Dewey	1	1	0	0	0	0.279	57	26
84^th	Apache Junction	5	2	5	0	0	0.273	126	42
85^th	Chinle	4	1	2	2	0	0.267	150	65
86^th	Golden Valley	1	0	0	0	0	0.265	151	65
87^th	San Luis	7	2	3	0	0	0.254	120	33
88^th	Wickenburg	1	1	2	1	2	0.245	58	30
89^th	Mohave Valley	3	0	3	0	0	0.244	104	15
90^th	Holbrook	2	1	5	1	1	0.227	109	19
91^st	Tolleson	9	1	6	0	0	0.221	125	34
92^nd	Tonopah	1	0	2	2	0	0.215	122	30
93^rd	Winslow	6	1	5	1	3	0.202	128	35
94^th	Parker	3	1	4	0	0	0.197	137	43
95^th	Rio Rico	4	1	2	1	1	0.187	123	28
96^th	Camp Verde	3	1	5	1	1	0.183	132	36
97^th	Kayenta	4	1	3	0	0	0.096	160	63
98^th	Guadalupe	1	0	0	0	0	0.094	166	68
99^th	Coolidge	7	1	5	1	0	0.093	144	45
100^th	Fort Defiance	1	2	2	0	0	0.083	149	49
101^st	Tuba City	5	1	5	0	0	0.08	168	67
102^nd	Page	3	1	5	1	1	0.075	131	29
103^rd	Arizona City	1	0	0	0	0	0.034	176	73

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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