Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Nogales earns a D, 127th among Arizona's 139 graded towns, mostly because of incomes and safety. The median household income is $43K, and 28% of residents live below the poverty line. Its police reported 50 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 87% of U.S. towns. In its favor, it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 59% of U.S. towns. 28% of residents live below the poverty line in Nogales, above both Arizona’s towns (12%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Its National Register listings include Guevavi Mission Ruins and Santa Cruz County Courthouse. Only 4 of the 56 Arizona towns we compare have a higher property crime rate than Nogales.
Where Nogales beats most towns.
Guevavi Mission Ruins is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 1,194 in 1890, 19,770 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1897 and 4 maps from 1933 on.
35 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arizona), ordered by how far Nogales is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Nogales, 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 Nogales.
Nogales has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has poverty well above the Arizona rate.
58 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. Nogales’ trail density is 2.8 miles per square mile.
| Nogales | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.8 miles per square mile | 1.1 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.3% | 15% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Las Lagunas de Anza Wetlands | 0.5 mi | 5 |
| 2. Fleischer Park | — | 10 |
| 3. Memorial Park | 0.2 mi | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Nogales Unified District. Three of its 18 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wade Carpenter Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 547 | D |
| Nogales High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,774 | C |
| Mexicayotl Charter SchoolTop results in townGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 168 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AZ on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 814 to 659 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Nogales reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The median property tax bill is $927, against $1,879 across Arizona, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Nogales home is worth about $216,000, about the same as a year ago, 48% below the Arizona typical home. 49% of households own their home in Nogales.
| Nogales | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 49% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $737 a month | $1,206 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 3,399 U.S. towns with household incomes like Nogales’s, it is healthier than 73%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
19% of Nogales adults have diabetes. Among 140 Arizona towns, just 4 have a lower share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Nogales. 37% of Nogales adults have obesity.
| Nogales | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 21% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 13% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 24% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Nogales | AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.1% | 8.8% |
| Fewer adults with depression | 15.8% | 19.5% |
| More uninsured adults | 30.8% | 13.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 76% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 63 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Nogales.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Nogales 6 N weather station, 7 miles away, records that about 118 days a year reach 90°, more than in 98% of U.S. towns.
Nogales has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. The July high in Nogales is 93°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 7,237 working residents takes 17.5 minutes, against 25.4 across Arizona.
About one in 3 of Nogales’s working residents works in town. Among 140 Arizona towns, just 6 have a lower median household income than Nogales. The top destinations are Tucson (19%), Rio Rico (11%) and Phoenix (6%).
| Nogales | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 37% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $43,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.4% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
None within 15 miles of Nogales; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Nogales residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arizona.
35 places in Nogales on the National Register of Historic Places.
16 notable people were born in Nogales.
City in Arizona, United States
Nogales (Spanish pronunciation: [noˈɣales] ; English: or ) is a city in and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. As of 2026, the population of Nogales is 20,072. Nogales forms part of the larger Tucson–Nogales combined statistical area, with a total population of 1,027,683 as of the 2010 Census. Nogales forms Arizona's largest transborder agglomeration with its adjacent, much larger twin Nogales, Sonora, across the Mexican border. The southern terminus of Interstate 19 is located in Nogales at the U.S.–Mexico border; the highway continues south into Mexico as Mexico Federal Highway 15. The highways meeting in Nogales are a major road intersection in the CANAMEX Corr…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Nogales grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #127 of 139 in Arizona. It grades C for health, D for safety and B for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3.9 years of the area's median household income ($55,217 across the Nogales, AZ area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
16 notable people were born here, including Charles Mingus and Movita Castaneda.
