Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,376, settled in 1878. 6.3 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Arizona town.
Trash day: WednesdayTombstone’s best subject grades are an A for cost of living and an A+ for civic life; its weakest is a D− for incomes. 48% of residents are 65 or older in Tombstone, where Arizona’s towns sit at 22% and U.S. towns at 18%. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 84% of U.S. communities, with wildfire at the top. Only 10 of the 134 Arizona towns we compare have a lower median rent than Tombstone. 34% of the land in Tombstone is conserved, against 14% in Arizona’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. On civic life, just 2 of Arizona’s 77 towns do better. Tombstone has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Tombstone Historic District and Sacred Heart Church. Tombstone has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Tombstone 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 Tombstone is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1886.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Tombstone, 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 Tombstone.
Its public schools are run by the Tombstone Unified District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Tombstone High School, with 461 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walter J Meyer SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 151 | B− |
| Tombstone High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 461 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AZ on state tests and graduation
About one in 3 of Tombstone’s working residents works in town. Tombstone’s average trip to work is 20 minutes. Since 2013, Tombstone has added 32 jobs, to 622 in 2023.
| Tombstone | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 36% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 12% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
19 miles of trail in 0 parks and preserves. The trail density in Tombstone is 2.0 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Tombstone home is worth about $232,000, up 3.4% in a year, 44% below the Arizona typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Tombstone has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 93°, January nights drop to 34° and about 1 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Tombstone beats the Arizona average on 12 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. 44% of adults have high blood pressure in Tombstone.
| Tombstone | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 36% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 31% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 80% | 75% | 79% |
| What stands out | Tombstone | AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 8.7% | 13.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.5% | 15.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.5% | 8.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Tombstone's reported crime rate is above Arizona's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025.
| Tombstone | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 21.4 per 1,000 residents | 11 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
1 within 15 miles of the center of Tombstone
About 3 of every 100 Tombstone residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Arizona.
Where Tombstone’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 places in Tombstone on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Tombstone.
City in Arizona, United States
Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. It was founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin, a prospector in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the many boomtowns founded in the southwestern United States in that era. The most productive silver mining district in Arizona, it produced some $40 to $85 million in silver bullion (equivalent to about $1.43 billion to $3.05 billion today). Best known as the site of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the city draws most of its revenue from tourism. According to the 2020 census, the city had a permanent population of 1,308. Tombstone has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
6.3 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Arizona town.
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.
3 notable people were born here, including Stuart Gilmore and William F. Hamilton.
