Yuma County, AZ

County Profile

211,741 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Yuma 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.

44out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 7% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,389th of 1,463 counties measured23
Schools1,187th of 1,377 counties measured20
GrowthTop 10% of 1,453 counties measured74
Housing affordabilityTop 38% of 1,462 counties measured76
Climate1,166th of 1,463 counties measured60
Physical resilience1,351st of 1,463 counties measured20
Access910th of 1,463 counties measured75
Economic stability1,024th of 1,463 counties measured44
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 18.9% and the Opportunity signal places Yuma County in the bottom 5%.

In the public schools here, 36% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 21.4 students for every teacher.

1,215 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 3% 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
211,741
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$62,876
Bottom 44% nationally
Density
38/sq mi
5,513.8 sq mi of land
Median age
36.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Yuma County
Arizona
Metro area
Nearest major airport
NYL
41 mi · Yuma MCAS/Yuma Intl
Median home value
$217,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 18.9% — higher than in all but 1% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Unemployment has been rising for 4 consecutive months, most recently 18.9%.

Employment fell 3.0% over the past year, to 80,271 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$54,39337th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$54,24938th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,2592024 ACS 5-Year$62,876Bottom 44%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$9962024 ACS 5-Year$30,204Bottom 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$46,666Bottom 12%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year15.4%Bottom 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.8 minTop 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year16.8%Bottom 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.7%50th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202680,271Top 28%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.1%Top 36%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−3.0%Bottom 9%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202698,94276th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year71.3%Bottom 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%79th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+2.1%Bottom 1%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 202618.9%Bottom 1%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year7.7%42nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/07199.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 18.9% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 4 months, 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

202120222023202463k53k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $62,876 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.

Largest occupations — Yuma, AZ

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse4,420$34,610
Cashiers1,880$31,790
Retail Salespersons1,840$33,840
General and Operations Managers1,800$79,990
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,800$30,580
Registered Nurses1,640$94,320

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

36% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 36% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 21.4 students for every full-time teacher across 63 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
79
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
21.4
across 63 of them
Math proficiency
36.0%
Bottom 25% in Arizona
Reading proficiency
35.6%
Bottom 25% in Arizona
The 12 largest of 79 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
San Luis High SchoolYuma Union High School District (4507)2,68226.017%17%
Cibola High SchoolYuma Union High School District (4507)2,43425.447%37%
Gila Ridge High SchoolYuma Union High School District (4507)2,24924.737%42%
Kofa High SchoolYuma Union High School District (4507)1,97622.717%27%
Harvest Preparatory Academy · charterHarvest Power Community Development Group Inc. (79501)1,06818.428%25%
Yuma High SchoolYuma Union High School District (4507)1,04021.222%22%
Castle Dome Middle SchoolYuma Elementary District (4499)93925.428%34%
Mary A Otondo Elementary SchoolYuma Elementary District (4499)89324.144%48%
Desert View Academy · charterJuniper Tree Academy (79064)88120.064%66%
Desert Mesa Elementary SchoolYuma Elementary District (4499)87620.950%52%
Gowan Science AcademyCrane Elementary District (4501)81626.370%75%
Cesar Chavez ElementaryGadsden Elementary District (4505)76630.639%42%

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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 12% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 88.1, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Yuma, AZ Metro Area is up 41% over five years, and flat 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 $1,333 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.61% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,382, some 39% above the $993 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,382 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $55,300 a year, about 88% of the median household income here of $62,876.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $993 a month.

A median home at $217,800 costs 3.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $72,476, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
88.1

Prices here run about 12% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Yuma, AZ Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
28.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,382
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$993
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$217,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Yuma County’s median household income of $62,876, 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
Cost of living indexthe Yuma, AZ Metro Area’s figure202388.1Top 8%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Yuma, AZ Metro Area’s figure2026 Q20.0%5th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Yuma, AZ Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+40.8%33rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Yuma, AZ Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+101.6%63rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year3.0Bottom 29%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year71.0%33rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1272024 ACS 5-Year95,20090th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,053Bottom 39%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,892Bottom 27%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,382Bottom 30%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$362024 ACS 5-Year$993Bottom 32%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,2022024 ACS 5-Year$217,80062nd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$372024 ACS 5-Year$1,33338th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,3732024 ACS 5-Year$72,476Bottom 40%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.61%30th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year28.5%Bottom 43%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±8532024 ACS 5-Year10,45798th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year11.0%83rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.7%22nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±8582024 ACS 5-Year15,85995th 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

74/ 100
Top 10% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, 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 7% since 2020, reaching 220,310 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 1,155 units authorized in 2025, 17% below the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 220,310 residents in 2024, up 2.3% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Yuma County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $54,393, close to the $54,249 of households that moved out.

At 5.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
1,215
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.7
Top 24% nationally
Year over year
+3%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
20.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024220k206k
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 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
81%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$54,393
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$54,249
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Maricopa County, AZ 1,064 people · 12% of arrivals
  2. San Diego County, CA 841 people · 9.2% of arrivals
  3. Imperial County, CA 620 people · 6.8% of arrivals
  4. Monterey County, CA 406 people · 4.5% of arrivals
  5. Los Angeles County, CA 304 people · 3.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Maricopa County, AZ 1,606 people · 18% of departures
  2. Imperial County, CA 466 people · 5.3% of departures
  3. San Diego County, CA 466 people · 5.3% of departures
  4. Pima County, AZ 358 people · 4.0% of departures
  5. Riverside County, CA 253 people · 2.9% 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

20222023202420251k850
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+36%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 106°F and January a low of 43°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 4.0 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 47, in the Good band, and about 4 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station YUMA 27 ENE, 16.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND0.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year742024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals4.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals43°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals106°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year472024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
47
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
74
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

20 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and heat wave, with earthquake alone responsible for 57% of it.

EarthquakeElevated
Heat waveHigh
Inland floodingModerate

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

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.

Yuma County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.4 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 18.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 20.2 per 100,000 residents in Yuma County.

Homicide
4.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
18.3
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
20.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
17.4
per 100,000 residents

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 Yuma 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.
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. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Yuma MCAS/Yuma Intl at 41 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year88.7%Top 36%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle41 miBottom 41%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year8.9%Top 39%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Yuma MCAS/Yuma IntlNYL41 mi13,300 ft
Phoenix GoodyearGYR100 mi8,500 ft
Phoenix Sky Harbor IntlPHX119 mi11,489 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
44
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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
Housing, 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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.