Safest Counties in Arizona: 11 Ranked (2026)
The 11 Arizona counties where police report enough to the FBI to build a reliable rate, ranked by violent crime, with home prices, asking rents and incomes where available.
Arizona has 15 counties. Eleven of them clear the reporting bar this page uses, and the gap between the quietest, Cochise at 159 violent offenses per 100,000, and the busiest, Maricopa at 428, is 2.7 to one. Beside each rate sits what homes there closed at over the last 12 months, from 136,213 closing records Resideline tracked across all 11 counties.
The crime rates here are built from the 7,333,311 residents those police agencies actually report on, over the months they reported. Each figure is a single county-wide figure, so treat this as a way to narrow a search rather than a verdict on any street.
We do not treat missing or conflicting crime data as zero. A county appears here only when its reporting clears our reliability threshold, and we set aside results that conflict materially with the state's own records. Whether a county is ranked depends on its crime reporting alone; whether it shows a price depends on whether Resideline tracked enough closings there.
The ranking
| # | County | Violent per 100k | Property per 100k | Median closed price | Median asking rent | Median income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cochise | 159 | 1,030 | $260,000 | $1,300 | $60,975 |
| 2 | Santa Cruz | 172 | 1,354 | $285,000 | $1,395 | $57,125 |
| 3 | Pinal | 218 | 703 | $389,990 | $1,950 | $81,817 |
| 4 | Navajo | 261 | 995 | $340,000 | $1,800 | $54,293 |
| 5 | Yuma | 265 | 952 | $270,000 | $1,550 | $64,906 |
| 6 | Mohave | 265 | 1,674 | $290,000 | $1,600 | $61,016 |
| 7 | Pima | 273 | 1,877 | $347,619 | $1,700 | $71,993 |
| 8 | Yavapai | 287 | 687 | $454,269 | $1,995 | $74,247 |
| 9 | Gila | 325 | 1,093 | $380,000 | $1,850 | $59,678 |
| 10 | Coconino | 407 | 1,646 | $575,000 | $2,350 | $74,564 |
| 11 | Maricopa | 428 | 1,658 | $457,605 | $2,180 | $90,919 |
A closer look at each county
1. Cochise County
At 159 violent offenses per 100,000, Cochise sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Buyers there paid a median of $260,000, some 75 percent of the level across the counties measured. Low crime is not being charged for here, which is the combination most buyers are actually hunting for. A home costs 4.3 times the median household income there, the lowest quarter of this list. Its property rate, 1,030 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. For prices at street level, see Sierra Vista, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
2. Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz's violent crime rate is 172 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the Arizona counties Resideline can measure. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median home closed at $285,000, roughly 82 percent of the middle figure for these counties. Low crime is not being charged for here, which is the combination most buyers are actually hunting for. Property offenses run at 1,354 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. The median rental listing asks $1,395 a month.
3. Pinal County
At 218 violent offenses per 100,000, Pinal sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. That is close to the median comparable US county, which records 245. Buyers there paid a median of $389,990, some 112 percent of the level across the counties measured. Households there earn a median of $81,817, about 126 percent of the median for these counties. Property crime is low too, at 703 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.6 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $1,950 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Queen Creek, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
4. Navajo County
Navajo's violent crime rate is 261 per 100,000 residents, the middle range among the Arizona counties Resideline can measure. That is close to the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median closed price, $340,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. Median household income is $54,293, roughly 84 percent of the level across this list. At $1,800 a month in asking rent, the gross return here is in the top quarter of the counties measured. Property offenses run at 995 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. For prices at street level, see Show Low, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
5. Yuma County
Police in Yuma reported 265 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. That is close to the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes changed hands at a median $270,000, around 78 percent of what the rest of this list recorded. Local incomes go further here than almost anywhere else on this list, with homes at 4.2 times median household income. At $1,550 a month in asking rent, the gross return here is in the top quarter of the counties measured. Property crime is low, at 952 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.8 times the median comparable US county. Resideline publishes a separate page for Yuma, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
6. Mohave County
Mohave records 265 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the middle range of the Arizona counties measured here. That is close to the median comparable US county, which records 245. A median closing price of $290,000 puts it at roughly 83 percent of the middle figure for this list. Local incomes go further here than almost anywhere else on this list, with homes at 4.8 times median household income. Its property rate of 1,674 per 100,000 is in the top quarter here, and 1.4 times the median comparable US county. At $1,600 a month in asking rent, the gross return here is in the top quarter of the counties measured. For prices at street level, see Bullhead City, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
7. Pima County
At 273 violent offenses per 100,000, Pima sits in the middle range of the places on this list. That is close to the median comparable US county, which records 245. At $347,619, its median closed price is unremarkable against the rest of this list. Theft and burglary are the larger problem: 1,877 property offenses per 100,000, 1.6 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $1,700 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Green Valley, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
8. Yavapai County
Yavapai's violent crime rate is 287 per 100,000 residents, the middle range among the Arizona counties Resideline can measure. That is close to the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median home closed at $454,269, roughly 131 percent of the middle figure for these counties. Property crime is low, at 687 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.6 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $1,995 a month. For prices at street level, see Prescott, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
9. Gila County
Gila records 325 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the middle range of the Arizona counties measured here. That is 1.3 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, though still below the Arizona statewide rate of 366 per 100,000 in the same data. Homes there closed at a median of $380,000, close to the middle of this list. Measured against local pay it is one of the harder counties on this list to buy into, at 6.4 times median household income. Property offenses run at 1,093 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. The median rental listing asks $1,850 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Payson, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
10. Coconino County
At 407 violent offenses per 100,000, Coconino sits in the highest quarter of the places on this list. That is 1.7 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, and above the Arizona statewide rate of 366 per 100,000 in the same data. A median closing price of $575,000 puts it at roughly 165 percent of the middle figure for this list. Buyers are paying up here regardless of the crime figure, which tells you the figure is not what they are pricing. Buying there takes 7.7 times the median household income, a heavier lift than most of this list. Its property rate, 1,646 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. For prices at street level, see Flagstaff, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
11. Maricopa County
Maricopa's violent crime rate is 428 per 100,000 residents, the highest quarter among the Arizona counties Resideline can measure. That is 1.7 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, and above the Arizona statewide rate of 366 per 100,000 in the same data. The median home closed at $457,605, roughly 132 percent of the middle figure for these counties. High crime and high prices sit together here, which is what usually happens when a county contains a real city. Households there earn a median of $90,919, about 140 percent of the median for these counties. Property offenses run at 1,658 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. Resideline publishes a separate page for Scottsdale, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
Does safety set the price in Arizona?
Not in the direction people assume. The safest quarter of these counties is actually 38 percent cheaper than the highest-crime quarter, which means the places reporting more crime here are also the ones people pay most to live in.
That matches what we found nationally: across 688 counties, once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a crime rate stops predicting home prices. The full analysis is in our study of crime and home prices.
That is a county-level result. Within a county, research at the scale of a block or a neighborhood finds that violent crime does lower the value of the homes nearest to it, so use these figures to compare counties, not streets.
Where safety and affordability overlap in Arizona
Three of the 3 safest counties on this list also cost no more than the list's median once prices are set against local incomes: Cochise (159 violent per 100,000, a home at 4.3 times median household income); Santa Cruz (172 violent per 100,000, a home at 5.0 times median household income); Pinal (218 violent per 100,000, a home at 4.8 times median household income). Against what households there earn, those are the counties where a low crime rate is not being charged for.
The large counties
Three counties here have more than 500,000 residents. Their median violent rate is 273 per 100,000 against 265 for the smaller counties on the list, and the quietest of them is Pinal at 218. It closes homes at a median of $389,990.
How to read this list
The right way to use this is to narrow the list, then check the address. Averages at this scale hide the variation that actually matters once you are choosing between two houses.
Prices and rents are as of September 9, 2026, from closings and rental listings Resideline tracks over the previous 12 months; a price is shown where at least 100 closings were tracked and a rent where at least 50 listings were. Rent figures are the median asking rent on listings, not lease figures. Crime is the 2025 FBI Crime Data Explorer release, measured for the whole county over the months each agency reported, and violent crime means murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Household income is the Census SAIPE 2024 estimate of the county's median household income; population is the Census 2024 estimate. Where this page compares a rate with the median comparable US county, that figure (245 violent and 1188 property offenses per 100,000) is the median across the 874 US counties with at least 50,000 residents whose agencies reported on 90 percent or more of them for the year.
Sources and related pages
- •Crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer, agency-level offense counts for 2025, aggregated by county over the months each agency reported.
- •Income: Census SAIPE 2024, county median household income.
- •Population: Census county population estimates, vintage 2024.
- •Prices and rents: Resideline's tracked closings and rental listings, 12 months to September 2026.
- •Related: Safest counties by state; Does crime actually lower home prices?; Arizona housing market; Safest counties in California; Safest counties in Colorado; Safest counties in New Mexico; Safest counties in Utah.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the safest county in Arizona?
Of the 11 Arizona counties measured here, Cochise County records the lowest violent crime rate at 159 offenses per 100,000 residents, against 245 for the median comparable US county. Homes there closed at a median of $260,000 over the last 12 months.
Is this every county in Arizona?
No. It covers 11 of the state's 15 counties, the ones where police agencies report at least 90 percent of the population to the FBI, the area has at least 50,000 residents, and the resulting rate falls inside the sanity bounds we apply. Whether Resideline has enough sales there decides only whether a price is shown. No place above 150,000 residents was excluded.
Does a lower crime rate mean higher home prices?
Here it runs the other way. Comparing the safest quarter of these counties with the highest-crime quarter, the median closed price is 38 percent lower and household income 18 percent lower. Across 688 US counties we found that once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, a county's crime rate stops predicting its home prices. At the scale of a block, the research says violent crime does lower nearby values.
Is this crime rate for my neighborhood?
No. The FBI publishes these figures for whole counties, so every part of a county carries the same number here, from its densest district to its farmland. It is useful for narrowing a search and not a substitute for looking at a specific address.
Are these rents asking rents or lease rents?
They are the median asking rent on rental listings in the county over the last 12 months. That is what landlords advertised, a guide to the market rather than a lease figure.
About the author
Jeffrey Batista
Jeffrey Batista is the founder of Resideline, a real estate technology company building institutional grade valuation and investment analysis tools for real estate investors.
A software engineer with more than 10 years of experience, Jeffrey has worked across full stack development, infrastructure, data engineering, machine learning, and large scale systems. He left his engineering career to build Resideline full time.
Jeffrey is also a real estate investor with nearly a decade of hands on experience buying, renovating, managing, and analyzing residential properties. His experience on both sides of the industry, as an engineer and an investor, led him to build Resideline after seeing how fragmented and outdated many of the tools available to individual investors were.
Today, he leads the development of Resideline's proprietary data infrastructure, automated valuation models, rental analytics, and investment underwriting technology.
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