Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,973, settled in 1875.
San Carlos grades D− overall, 136th among Arizona's 139 graded towns, mostly because of incomes and health. The median household income is $56K, and 40% of residents live below the poverty line. Residents are less healthy than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What it does well: a typical home costs about $67K, 1.1 years of the Payson area’s $62K median household income. 40% of residents live below the poverty line in San Carlos, above both the Arizona town median (12%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 4 of Arizona’s 207 towns score lower on hazard risk. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 89% of U.S. towns.
Where San Carlos beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where San Carlos’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arizona), ordered by how far San Carlos is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,542 in 1970, 3,987 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1899 and 2 maps from 1966 on.
San Carlos is unincorporated, so Gila 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.
Ordered by what stands out in San Carlos.
San Carlos draws workers from Globe and beyond and has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Arizona (mostly inland flooding).
37% of adults say their health is fair or poor in San Carlos. Among 140 Arizona towns, just 1 have a higher share of adults who feel lonely than San Carlos. 27% of adults report frequent mental distress in San Carlos.
| San Carlos | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 21% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 16% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | San Carlos | AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.1% | 8.8% |
| Fewer adults with high cholesterol | 31% | 37.3% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 26.5% | 7.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the San Carlos Unified District. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rice Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 673 | D |
| Biyaagozhoo CenterLargest public high schoolGrades 3–12 | Grades 3–12 | 10 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AZ on state tests and graduation
1,976 jobs are based in San Carlos, 2.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 368 in 2013 to 1,976.
56% of San Carlos’s working residents work right in town. Since 2013, San Carlos has added 1,608 jobs, to 1,976 in 2023. San Carlos’ average trip to work is 21 minutes.
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 99% of Arizona towns; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in San Carlos is 99 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
13 miles of trail in 0 parks and preserves. Only 9 of the 136 Arizona towns we compare have a lower share of conserved land than San Carlos.
| San Carlos | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.2% | 15% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.5 miles per square mile | 1.1 | 0.4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The San Carlos Reservoir weather station, 12 miles away, records that about 138 days a year reach 90°, more than in 99% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 100.8°, hotter than in 99% of U.S. towns; January nights average 31.9°.
San Carlos has mild winters and scorching summers, with very little rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| San Carlos | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 101°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 San Carlos; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 San Carlos residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arizona.
CDP in Gila County, Arizona
San Carlos (Western Apache: Sengaa) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Gila County, Arizona, United States. The population was 4,038 at the 2010 census, up from 3,716 in 2000. San Carlos is the largest community in and the seat of government for the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. San Carlos' economy is underdeveloped and is based mainly on retail service industries, construction trades, and public administration.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with San Carlos.
| Town | AZ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Carlos | #136 | D− | A+ | — | C− | D− |
| Peridot | — | — | — | — | — | — |
San Carlos reports no FBI crime data of its own. Peridot isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare San Carlos with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
San Carlos grades D− overall, better than 5% of U.S. towns and #136 of 139 in Arizona. It grades D− for health and C− 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+.
2 notable people were born here, including Mary Kim Titla and Donald Angus Davison.