Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Today 1,142 people live in this town, first settled in 1902.
St. Michaels’ weakest subject grade is a C− for health. 33% of working residents work locally in St. Michaels, above both Arizona’s towns (10%) and U.S. towns (8%). Only 8 of Arizona’s 207 towns score higher on hazard risk. St. Michaels’ concentration of trails is 3.3 miles per square mile, against 1.1 in Arizona’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. On history, just 19 of Arizona’s 207 towns do worse. St. Michaels has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where St. Michaels beats most towns.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arizona), ordered by how far St. Michaels is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,119 in 1990, 1,384 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers and 2 maps from 1955 on.
St. Michaels is unincorporated, so Apache 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 St. Michaels.
The top destinations are Fort Defiance (17%), Phoenix (8%) and Gallup (4%). About one in three of St. Michaels’s working residents works in town. The town had 4,513 jobs in 2023, up 4,372 from 2013. In St. Michaels, the average commute is 30 minutes.
| St. Michaels | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In St. Michaels, just over a fifth of adults smoke cigarettes. Against the Arizona average, St. Michaels comes out ahead on 2 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 22. Among adults in the town, 20% report frequent physical distress and 29% worry about having enough food. Only 9 of the 141 Arizona towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have diabetes than St. Michaels.
| St. Michaels | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 15% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | St. Michaels | AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 12% | 15.3% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 77.3% | 73.9% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 15.5% | 7.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
St. Michaels’ FEMA risk score stands at 22 of 100. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 57% come from inland flooding and 18% from lightning. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
St. Michaels’ peak summer temperature comes in at 87°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
19% of St. Michaels residents are under 18. Every broad age group is within 4 points of the Arizona average. St. Michaels’ age of the median resident is 40.1 years.
| St. Michaels | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 19% | 21% | 22% |
| Median age | 40.1 years | 41.9 years | 40.5 years |
53% women, 47% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.6 points. Across Arizona, 50.1% of residents are women.
| St. Michaels | AZ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.1% | 11.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.8% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.1% | 9.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 17% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.4% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.8% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 8.3% | 12% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.5% | 10.8% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.1% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 16.7% | 10.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 17.2% | 23.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.3% | 23.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 19.7% | 9.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.8% | 20.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.4% | 13% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,100, single groups can be off by several points
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of St. Michaels; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 St. Michaels residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Arizona.
Where St. Michaels’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
CDP in Apache County, Arizona
St. Michaels (Navajo: Tsʼíhootso) is a chapter of the Navajo Nation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Apache County, Arizona, United States. The Navajo Nation Government Campus is located within the chapter at Window Rock. The population was 1,443 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.