Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Flagstaff's standout: it is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C, 82nd among Arizona's 139 graded towns. It is healthier than 83% of U.S. towns and it has 329 miles of trail and 52% conserved land. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 86% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. 62% of working residents work locally in Flagstaff, above both the Arizona town median (10%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Lowell Observatory and Riordan Estate. On cost of living, just 13 of Arizona’s 203 towns do worse.
Where Flagstaff beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Lowell Observatory
Lowell Observatory is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 964 in 1890, 76,831 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1962 on.
40 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arizona), ordered by how far Flagstaff is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for hazard risk (better than 8%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Flagstaff, 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 Flagstaff.
Flagstaff is shaped by its college students, has more trail for its size than nearly any town in Arizona and has a shorter frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns.
At 5 miles of trail per square mile, it ranks #3 of 130 Arizona towns. Its 22,140 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 87% of Arizona towns.
The trail density in Flagstaff is 5.0 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Coconino National Forest, 14,243 acres with 145.9 miles of trail. 329 miles of trail in 25 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Coconino National Forest | 145.9 mi | 14,243 |
| 2. Buffalo Park | 1.5 mi | 247 |
| 3. Bushmaster Park | 1.5 mi | 23 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Flagstaff Unified District. Three of its 39 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sinagua Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,013 | C |
| Flagstaff High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,631 | C+ |
| BASIS FlagstaffTop results in townGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 666 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AZ on state tests and graduation
At 8.9 years of the Flagstaff metro’s $73K median household income, the typical home (about $650K) costs more against local pay than in 94% of Arizona towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living.
The typical Flagstaff home is worth about $650,000, about the same as a year ago, 56% above the Arizona typical home. 42% of Flagstaff households own their home.
| Flagstaff | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 42% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,645 a month | $1,190 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 58% | 46% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Flagstaff’s violent crime rate is 4.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Flagstaff | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 4.6 per 1,000 residents | 2.5 | 1.7 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 22.3 per 1,000 residents | 13.5 | 11.5 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Its widest gap with Arizona is heart disease: 3.7% of its 63,205 adults have heart disease, against 6.4% statewide.
22% of adults have high blood pressure in Flagstaff. Only 1 of the 140 Arizona towns we compare have a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Flagstaff. 24% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Flagstaff.
| Flagstaff | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 37% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 66% | 75% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 32% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 6.6% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Flagstaff | AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 3.7% | 6.4% |
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 6.6% | 11.3% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 12% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Since 1979, 56 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Flagstaff.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Flagstaff Pulliam Ap weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 115 days, shorter than in 98% of U.S. towns. The Flagstaff Pulliam Ap weather station records that 90 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 96% of U.S. towns.
Flagstaff has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. Only 3 of the 140 Arizona towns we compare have a lower July high than Flagstaff.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 30,173 working residents takes 16.5 minutes, against 25.4 across Arizona.
Jobs based in Flagstaff grew to 36,712 in 2023, 5,470 more than in 2013. Only 10 of the 140 Arizona towns we compare have a lower average trip to work than Flagstaff. The top destinations are Phoenix (8%), Tempe (2%) and Scottsdale (2%).
| Flagstaff | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 13% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Flagstaff. Close and well known come first.
12 mi MountainHumphreys Peak
38 mi National MonumentMontezuma Castle National Monument320K visitors a year
13 mi National MonumentSunset Crater Volcano National Monument108K visitors a year
11 mi Ski areaArizona Snowbowl53 runs · 2,368 ft vertical
5 mi National MonumentWalnut Canyon National Monument153K visitors a year
26 mi MountainRoden CraterHumphreys Peak: Bob Blasi; Coconino National Forest, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Montezuma Castle National Monument: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument: National Park Service, Public domain · Arizona Snowbowl: Frederick Dennstedt from los angeles, usa, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Walnut Canyon National Monument: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roden Crater: Unknown, Public domain
3 within 15 miles of the center of Flagstaff
College town 28 of every 100 Flagstaff residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Arizona.
52.5% of the town is conserved land, across 25 parks and preserves.
40 places in Flagstaff on the National Register of Historic Places.
17 notable people were born in Flagstaff.
City in Arizona, United States
Flagstaff ( FLAG-staf) is a city in and the county seat of Coconino County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 76,831. Flagstaff is the principal city of the Flagstaff metropolitan area, which includes all of Coconino County, and has a population of 145,101. Flagstaff lies near the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau and within the San Francisco volcanic field, along the western side of the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in the continental United States. The city sits at around 7,000 feet (2,100 m) and is next to Mount Elden, just south of the San Francisco Peaks, the highest mountain range in the state of Arizona. Humphrey…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Flagstaff.
| Town | AZ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flagstaff | #82 | C | D | C− | B | A− |
| Fort Valley | — | — | D | — | B | A+ |
| Doney Park | #49 | B− | C | — | B | A |
Fort Valley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Fort Valley and Doney Park report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Flagstaff with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Flagstaff grades C overall, better than 29% of U.S. towns and #82 of 139 in Arizona. It grades A− for health, C− for safety and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
17 notable people were born here, including Andy Devine and Henry L. Giclas.
