Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,752, settled in 1875.
Clifton is one of the best-graded places in America: an A+, 2nd of 139 graded towns in Arizona. A typical home costs about $66K, less than a year of the county’s $71K median household income, CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 78% of the country, and it has 16 miles of trail and 55% conserved land. The exception is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 95% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. 55% of the land in Clifton is conserved, above both the Arizona town median (14%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Clifton has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Gila River Bridge and Clifton Townsite Historic District. Clifton's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 90% of U.S. towns.
Where Clifton beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
3,311 counted in 2010 and 3,933 in 2020; an estimated 3,752 in 2025.
Since 2020 the trend has turned: down 4.6%, after 18.8% growth in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arizona), ordered by how far Clifton is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for cost of living (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for hazard risk (better than 10%), so the A+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 600 in 1890, 3,933 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1903 and 4 maps from 1902 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Clifton, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Clifton.
Clifton keeps more of its land conserved than most of Arizona and has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, but it is a long drive from an emergency room.
Its 5,170 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 89% of Arizona towns.
Clifton’s trail density is 1.1 miles per square mile, close to Arizona’s towns (1.1) and above U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Riverview Park | 0.3 mi | 3 |
| 2. Sumitomo Park | 0.3 mi | 3 |
| 3. County Ball fields | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Morenci Unified District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Morenci High School, with 361 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metcalf Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 777 | A |
| Morenci High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 361 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AZ on state tests and graduation
Since 1978, 96 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Clifton. Among 140 Arizona towns, just 9 have a higher FEMA risk score than Clifton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The nearest emergency room, Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center, is 29.7 miles away in a straight line. Its widest gap with Arizona is cancer: 5.2% of its 2,606 adults have had cancer, against 8.8% statewide.
26% of adults have high blood pressure in Clifton. Clifton beats the Arizona average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 9.2% of adults have diabetes in Clifton.
| Clifton | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 75% | 79% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 37% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 16% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Clifton | AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.2% | 8.8% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 4.1% | 6.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 16.2% | 13.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2.5% of Clifton residents live below the poverty line. Most working residents leave Clifton for work: only 8% work in town. The average trip to work in Clifton is 21 minutes.
| Clifton | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 2.5% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Clifton weather station records that about 135 days a year reach 90°, more than in 99% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 96.6°, hotter than in 98% of U.S. towns; January nights average 32.3°.
Clifton has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. Clifton’s July high is 97°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Clifton | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 97°F | 100°F | 85°F |
| January low | 32°F | 37°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of Clifton; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Clifton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Arizona.
54.6% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
6 places in Clifton on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Greenlee County, Arizona
Clifton is a town in and the county seat of Greenlee County, Arizona, United States, along the San Francisco River. As of the 2020 census, Clifton had a population of 3,933. It was a place of the Arizona copper mine strike of 1983. Clifton and Morenci are thought to be an economic area by the Arizona Department of Commerce.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Clifton.
Morenci has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Clifton and Morenci report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Clifton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Clifton grades A+ overall, better than 96% of U.S. towns and #2 of 139 in Arizona. It grades A− for health and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.
