Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
San Luis grades C overall, ranked 78th of 139 in Arizona, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 79% of U.S. towns. On the other side, the median household income is $59K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line. San Luis’ July high is 107°F, where Arizona’s towns sit at 100°F and U.S. towns at 85°F. No town in Arizona scores lower than San Luis on civic life. The biggest park or preserve is Joe Orduño Park, at 23 acres.
Where San Luis beats most towns.
25,505 counted in 2010 and 35,257 in 2020; an estimated 42,030 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 18.5% since 2020, after 38.2% 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 San Luis is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 189 in 1970, 35,257 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 1948 and a map from 1965 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in San Luis, 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 San Luis.
San Luis fares better on crime within Arizona than nationally, has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and has home values climbing faster than Arizona’s.
26 miles of trail wind through 17 parks and preserves. In San Luis, the concentration of trails is 0.8 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Joe Orduño Park | — | 23 |
| 2. Eligio Ramirez Park | 0.1 mi | 4 |
| 3. Moctezuma Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Of its 13 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. The Gadsden Elementary District runs its public schools. The 6 public schools in San Luis teach 3,932 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cesar Chavez ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 766 | C |
| San Luis High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,682 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AZ on state tests and graduation
Home values rose 29% in five years, to about $235K, against 7% across Arizona.
A home in San Luis typically sold within 120 days of listing. San Luis’ going rate for rent stands at $741 a month. Over the 12 months to September 2026, the typical home gained 1.5% in value.
| San Luis | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $741 a month | $1,206 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 68% | 76% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Only 8 of the 140 Arizona towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have obesity than San Luis. For adults locally, the share who had a checkup this year is 68%. CDC measures, 32 in all: San Luis beats Arizona on 5 and trails on 19.
| San Luis | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 21% | 19% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 15% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 68% | 75% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 12% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | San Luis | AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.7% | 8.8% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 17.7% | 25.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 32.4% | 13.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 8.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 94% of Arizona’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 35 reported in 2025, 0.8 per 1,000 residents.
San Luis’ rate of thefts and burglaries comes in at 5.1 per 1,000 residents. The violent offense rate for San Luis comes to 0.8 per 1,000 residents.
| San Luis | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.8 per 1,000 residents | 2.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.1 per 1,000 residents | 11.1 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
San Luis’ risk rating from FEMA is 79 of 100. 60% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from earthquakes, followed by inland flooding at 29%.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jobs based here fell from 5,620 in 2013 to 3,416.
Among workers in San Luis, 6.6% work remotely from home. For most workers, San Luis is a place to come home to: only 12% work in town. Employers in San Luis shed 2,204 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 3,416. The top destinations are Yuma (29%), Phoenix (12%) and Somerton (6%).
| San Luis | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 6.6% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $59,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Yuma Mcas weather station, 13 miles away, records that about 181 days a year reach 90°, more than in 100% of U.S. towns. January nights average 44.3°, milder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 107.3°.
For San Luis, the January low is 44°F. Snow almost never falls.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of San Luis; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 San Luis residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arizona.
Where San Luis’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Arizona, United States
San Luis is a city in Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The population was 35,257 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Yuma County Metropolitan Statistical Area. San Luis, located in the southwest corner of the state directly adjacent to Mexico's Federal Highway 2 at San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, was the second fastest-growing city or town in Arizona from 1990 to 2000. According to 2025 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 42,030.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
San Luis grades C overall, better than 31% of U.S. towns and #78 of 139 in Arizona. It grades C− for health, A− for safety and B− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.7 years of the area's median household income ($62,876 across the Yuma, AZ metro 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.