Graham County, AZ

County Profile

39,232 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Graham County, AZ.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 39% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,175th of 1,463 counties measured39
SchoolsTop 19% of 1,377 counties measured74
GrowthTop 12% of 1,453 counties measured72
Housing affordabilityTop 4% of 1,462 counties measured89
Climate1,008th of 1,463 counties measured62
Physical resilience1,199th of 1,463 counties measured32
Access1,325th of 1,463 counties measured50
Economic stability1,268th of 1,463 counties measured29
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.2% and the Opportunity signal places Graham County in the bottom 20%.

Public schools test above most of the state: 46% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 19% of published profiles for schools.

198 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 11% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
39,232
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$67,325
Top 44% nationally
Density
8/sq mi
4,621.9 sq mi of land
Median age
34.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Graham County
Arizona
Micro area
Nearest major airport
TUS
84 mi · Tucson Intl
Median home value
$212,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.2% — higher than in all but 17% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.2% over the past year, to 15,575 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$58,45249th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$54,05537th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,6462024 ACS 5-Year$67,325Top 44%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,0632024 ACS 5-Year$27,149Bottom 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$42,907Bottom 4%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.1%Bottom 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.6 minTop 42%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year14.6%Bottom 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year78.4%56th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202615,575Bottom 22%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+4.3%Top 12%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.2%Bottom 36%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202616,42422nd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year61.9%Bottom 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%36th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.4%Bottom 19%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.2%Bottom 17%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year4.0%9th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.22.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.2% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202467k57k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $67,325 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

46% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 46% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.0 students for every full-time teacher across 21 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
30
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.0
across 21 of them
Math proficiency
45.7%
Top 8% in Arizona
Reading proficiency
46.3%
Top 17% in Arizona
The 12 largest of 30 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Safford High SchoolSafford Unified District (4218)82819.357%57%
Ruth Powell Elementary SchoolSafford Unified District (4218)57520.556%51%
Thatcher Elementary SchoolThatcher Unified District (4219)54926.156%55%
Dorothy Stinson SchoolSafford Unified District (4218)53919.349%50%
Thatcher High SchoolThatcher Unified District (4219)51217.162%57%
Pima Elementary SchoolPima Unified District (4220)50016.727%38%
Lafe Nelson SchoolSafford Unified District (4218)47122.453%45%
Jack Daley Primary SchoolThatcher Unified District (4219)41817.4——
Safford Middle SchoolSafford Unified District (4218)37520.835%37%
Pima High SchoolPima Unified District (4220)33516.0——
Fort Thomas High SchoolFort Thomas Unified District (4221)28411.812%17%
Thatcher Middle SchoolThatcher Unified District (4219)27314.442%46%

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Arizona’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Arizona is up 46% over five years, and up 2.0% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,013 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.48% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,244, some 33% above the $935 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,244 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $49,800 a year, about 74% of the median household income here of $67,325.

The typical renter household here spends 23% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $935 a month.

A median home at $212,000 costs 2.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $75,208, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
23.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,244
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$935
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$212,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Graham County’s median household income of $67,325, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Arizona’s figure2026 Q2+2.0%22nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Arizona’s figure2026 Q2+46.0%57th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Arizona’s figure2026 Q2+124.3%93rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.8Bottom 35%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year73.1%43rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±372024 ACS 5-Year14,12253rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$991Bottom 45%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,669Bottom 39%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,244Bottom 43%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$532024 ACS 5-Year$935Bottom 39%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,3752024 ACS 5-Year$212,00060th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$722024 ACS 5-Year$1,01325th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,8112024 ACS 5-Year$75,208Bottom 47%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.48%14th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year23.0%Top 14%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1432024 ACS 5-Year31647th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.2%45th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.5%37th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2552024 ACS 5-Year1,37641st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

72/ 100
Top 12% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 4% since 2020, reaching 40,242 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 225 units authorized in 2025, up 64% on the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 40,242 residents in 2024, up 1.7% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 198 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Graham County gained about 0.6% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $58,452, above the $54,055 of households that moved out.

At 5.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
198
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.0
Top 28% nationally
Year over year
+11%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202440k39k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
36%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$58,452
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$54,055
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Maricopa County, AZ 283 people · 20% of arrivals
  2. Greenlee County, AZ 155 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Pima County, AZ 109 people · 7.8% of arrivals
  4. Pinal County, AZ 82 people · 5.8% of arrivals
  5. Cochise County, AZ 77 people · 5.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Maricopa County, AZ 233 people · 19% of departures
  2. Greenlee County, AZ 138 people · 11% of departures
  3. Pima County, AZ 121 people · 9.7% of departures
  4. Cochise County, AZ 63 people · 5.1% of departures
  5. Gila County, AZ 55 people · 4.4% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025225135
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+67%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 100°F and January a low of 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 8.0 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SAFFORD MUNI AP, 15.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND1.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals8.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals100°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

32 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, heat wave and wildfire, with inland flooding alone responsible for 50% of it.

Heat waveModerate
WildfireHigh
DroughtElevated
Inland floodingElevated
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, winter weather, earthquake, landslide, hail, strong wind, hurricane, cold wave, tornado, coastal flooding, tsunami, ice storm, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Graham County has a modeled homicide rate of about 15.0 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 28.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 35.4 per 100,000 residents in Graham County.

Homicide
15.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
28.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
35.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
26.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Graham County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Tucson Intl at 84 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year84.9%Bottom 36%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle84 miBottom 8%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.8%Bottom 31%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Tucson IntlTUS84 mi10,996 ft
Springerville MuniJTC89 mi8,422 ft
Sierra Vista Muni-Libby AAFFHU97 mi12,001 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
56
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Graham County, AZ