AreaProfile

Vail, Arizona

Area Profile

16,315 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Vail, in Pima County.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3450th of 3,904 published cities36
Housing affordabilityTop 17% of 4,223 published cities96
Climate3052nd of 4,223 published cities63
Physical resilience3643rd of 4,182 published cities19
Access2822nd of 4,226 published cities87
Economic stabilityTop 24% of 4,226 published cities72
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 5.7% and the Opportunity signal places Vail in the bottom 12%.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 19% of median household income and the median home is 3.2 times it.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, wildfire and avalanche.

At a glance

Population
16,315
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$130,904
Top 8% nationally
Density
719/sq mi
22.7 sq mi of land
Median age
40.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Pima County
Arizona
Metro area
Tucson, AZ
Nearest major airport
TUS
16 mi · Tucson Intl
Median home value
$414,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.7% is lower than 11% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 4.8% over the past year, to 453,367 employed residents.

43% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 84% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 92% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$13,488$130,904Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,769$47,544Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate4.3%Bottom 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute32.2 minTop 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher42.9%Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment453,367Top 16%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-4.0%Bottom 7%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-4.8%Bottom 2%June 2026
Labor force480,847Top 15%June 2026
Labor force participation63.5%Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$63,200Bottom 25%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,760Bottom 21%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)1.1%Top 3%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.7%Top 11%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024131k107k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $130,904 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 — Tucson, AZ
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers12,130$83,610
Retail Salespersons11,100$34,530
Home Health and Personal Care Aides11,030$34,420
Registered Nurses10,120$94,110
Fast Food and Counter Workers9,980$31,690
Cashiers9,610$32,780

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Pima County, AZ, which contains this city.

There are 17.7 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
Reading proficiency
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Cienega High SchoolVail Unified District (4413)1,88118.3
Old Vail Middle SchoolVail Unified District (4413)81120.8
Acacia Elementary SchoolVail Unified District (4413)78320.1
Ocotillo Ridge ElementaryVail Unified District (4413)72313.9
Sycamore Elementary SchoolVail Unified District (4413)64015.6
Corona Foothills Middle SchoolVail Unified District (4413)61920.0
Copper Ridge ElementaryVail Unified District (4413)36617.4
Vail Inclusive PreschoolVail Unified District (4413)151
Pantano High SchoolVail Unified District (4413)9510.6
PCJTED - Cienega High SchoolPima County JTED (89380)1

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Arizona’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,057 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.2 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
18.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,057
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$414,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.17Top 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate91.1%Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5455,750Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$407$2,057Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,427$414,600Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.9%Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate3.8%Bottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →

No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.

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 41°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 10.6 inches.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station TUCSON INTL AP, 17.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation10.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low41°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high100°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing35°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

19 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and avalanche.

WildfireElevated
Inland floodingHigh
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, lightning, hail, earthquake, strong wind, winter weather, drought, landslide, tornado, hurricane, cold wave.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 16 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Tucson IntlTUS16 mi10,996 ft
Mesa GatewayIWA105 mi10,401 ft
Phoenix Sky Harbor IntlPHX124 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Other cities in Tucson, AZ

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
TucsonPima County547,07343vs Vail
Casas AdobesPima County72,059vs Vail
MaranaPima County56,93859vs Vail
Catalina FoothillsPima County52,593vs Vail
Oro ValleyPima County48,16253vs Vail
SahuaritaPima County35,86253vs Vail
Drexel HeightsPima County27,675vs Vail
Green ValleyPima County22,114vs Vail
Flowing WellsPima County16,559vs Vail
Tanque VerdePima County15,866vs Vail
Valencia WestPima County14,728vs Vail
Tucson EstatesPima County12,136vs Vail

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Vail side by side with a similar place.

Vail vs MaranaVail vs Tucson MountainsVail vs SahuaritaVail vs Tanque Verde

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.

ZIP codes in Vail

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
8564134,752$131,164