LindenAZ
Today 2,502 people live in this town, first settled in 1891.
Is Linden a good place to live?
One weak subject stands out against an otherwise good record. Schools are its strong suit — its schools outperform 69% of the state's. The trade-off is incomes — the median household income is $98K, and 13% of residents live below the poverty line. A typical home there costs about $411K, 7.5 years of the Show Low area’s $55K median household income. It lags on hazard risk as well (C) — FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 63% of U.S. communities, with wildfire at the top. Overall, that makes a B, good for 30th of 139 in Arizona. Set against the rest, it does better than 58% of U.S. towns. Only 8 of the 140 Arizona towns we compare have a higher share of households owning their home than Linden.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · home values, Zillow.
97% of working residents leave Linden for work
Where Linden’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Linden grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arizona), ordered by how far Linden is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Linden: who provides what
Linden is unincorporated, so Navajo County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Linden.
Linden keeps more of its land conserved than most of Arizona and sends most of its workers to Show Low and beyond, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Arizona.
Protected land: nearly a third of Linden
Its 12,228 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 93% of Arizona towns.
Linden’s density of trails stands at 2.3 miles per square mile. 70 miles of trail.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Linden earns a B+ for schools
The public schools here belong to the Show Low Unified District. Two of its 5 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Public school enrollment in Linden: 381 students across 2 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linden Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 208 | B+ |
| Sequoia Village SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 173 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AZ on state tests and graduation
About one in three of Linden’s working residents commute to Show Low
Linden has 228 jobs for its 968 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
For most workers, Linden is a place to come home to: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Show Low (37%), Phoenix (9%) and Pinetop-Lakeside (5%). Half commute less than 13 miles.
| Linden | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $98,000 | $68,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 3% | 10% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 12% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
On CDC estimates, Linden is healthier than two in three U.S. towns
Nearly one in ten adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Linden. Of 32 CDC measures, Linden beats the Arizona average on 11 and trails it on 8. Two figures for adults in the town: 29% sleep under 7 hours, 43% have high blood pressure.
| Linden | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 35% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 36% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 31% | 33% |
| What stands out | Linden | AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 8.3% | 13.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11% | 15.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.8% | 6.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Four seasons and pleasant summers: that is Linden’s year
Among 140 Arizona towns, just 8 have a lower peak summer temperature than Linden. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 20° and about 19 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Natural hazards: high risk in Linden, mostly wildfire
Of the losses FEMA expects in Linden, 45% come from wildfires and 35% from inland flooding.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A home in Linden sells for about $480K at the median
At 7.5 years of the Show Low area’s $55K median household income, the typical home costs more against local pay than in 85% of Arizona towns; that ratio is one input to its B− for cost of living.
95% of Linden households own their home, against 76% in Arizona’s towns and 73% across U.S. towns.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Linden
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Linden; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Linden residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Arizona.
About Linden
Unincorporated community in the state of Arizona, United States
Linden is an unincorporated community located in Navajo County, Arizona, United States, just west of the city of Show Low. It is situated atop the Mogollon Rim at an elevation of over 6,000 feet. The community was evacuated in June 2002 due to the Rodeo-Chediski fire, which eventually consumed part of Linden, destroying a number of homes. Linden is generally made up of larger ranches and rural subdivisions, including Cheney Ranch and Timberland Acres. As an unincorporated community with few businesses, many Linden residents make their livings in or around the city of Show Low. Linden's former fire district has been merged into the Timber Mesa Fire and Medical District, along with those of S…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 30 sq mi
- Elevation
- 6,280 ft
- Area code
- 928
Linden’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Linden.
Linden reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Linden with a neighbor →
Questions about Linden
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Linden, AZ a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Linden grades B overall, better than 58% of U.S. towns and #30 of 139 in Arizona. It grades B+ for health and B+ for schools.
Is Linden, AZ expensive?
The typical home is worth about $411,000, 1% below the Arizona typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.