Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Low prices, and some weak spots to weigh against them. Where it falls short is incomes — the median household income is $61K, and 28% of residents live below the poverty line. At C overall, Tuba City ranks 81st of 139 in Arizona. On that grade it does better than 29% of U.S. towns. It also trails on health — CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 87% of the country. Its best grade is for cost of living: a typical home costs about $66K, less than a year of the Flagstaff metro’s $73K median household income. Walkability is another plus (B+): it is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns. The town has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Coyote Range and Tuba Trading Post.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arizona), ordered by how far Tuba City is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for cost of living (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D− for jobs and income (better than 4%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Where Tuba City beats most towns.
Census counts: 5,045 in 1980, 8,072 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1898 and 2 maps from 1969 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Tuba City’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Ordered by what stands out in Tuba City.
Tuba City carries less natural-hazard risk than most of Arizona (mostly inland flooding) and has hotter summers than nearly all U.S. towns, but it is a long drive from an emergency room.
Tuba City’s trail density stands at 1.5 miles per square mile. Across 1 park or preserve: 13 miles of trail. Only 9 of the 136 Arizona towns we compare have a lower share of conserved land than Tuba City.
| Tuba City | 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 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Louise Yellowman County Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Of its 8 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. The largest public high school is Tuba City High School, with 666 students. The public schools here belong to the Tuba City Unified School District #15.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuba City Boarding SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 1,040 | – |
| Tuba City High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 666 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AZ on state tests and graduation
The nearest emergency room, Page Hospital, is 41.3 miles away in a straight line.
Nearly a quarter of Tuba City adults have been diagnosed with depression, where Arizona’s towns sit at 20% and U.S. towns at 23%. The share of adults in Tuba City who sleep under 7 hours: 41%. Among 140 Arizona towns, just 4 have a higher share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Tuba City. Against the Arizona average, Tuba City comes out ahead on 2 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 27.
| Tuba City | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 21% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 16% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Tuba City | AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.2% | 8.8% |
| Fewer adults with high cholesterol | 33.7% | 37.3% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 21% | 7.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here fell from 1,388 in 2013 to 488.
Commuting out is the norm in Tuba City: 14% of working residents work locally. The town had 488 jobs in 2023, down 900 from 2013. Its mean commuting time is 21 minutes, below both the Arizona town median (24 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Among 140 Arizona towns, just 10 have a higher share of residents below the poverty line than Tuba City.
| Tuba City | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 28% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 8.2% | 12% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
July afternoons average 94.8°, hotter than in 96% of U.S. towns; January nights average 23.6°.
Its typical July afternoon high stands at 95°F.
| Tuba City | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 95°F | 100°F | 85°F |
| January low | 24°F | 37°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 87% of Arizona towns, with expected losses of about $91 per resident a year; that rating is what its B for hazard risk is built on.
Of the losses FEMA expects in Tuba City, 74% come from inland flooding and 17% from lightning. The natural-hazard score from FEMA locally is 37 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Tuba City is unincorporated, so Coconino 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.
None within 15 miles of Tuba City; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Tuba City residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arizona.
5 notable people were born in Tuba City.
Town in Coconino County, Arizona
Tuba City (Navajo: Tó Naneesdizí) is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Coconino County, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation, United States. It is the second-largest community in Coconino County. The population of the census-designated place (CDP) was 8,611 at the 2010 census. It is the most populous community within the Navajo Nation, and the site of the headquarters of the Western Navajo Agency. The Hopi village of Moenkopi lies directly to its southeast. A Hopi minority also live in Tuba City; the majority are Navajo. European Americans associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints named the town in honor of chief Tuuvi, a Hopi man from Oraibi. He converted…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Tuba City.
Tuba City reports no FBI crime data of its own. Moenkopi isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Tuba City with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Tuba City grades C overall, better than 29% of U.S. towns and #81 of 139 in Arizona. It grades D for health and C for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. That is 0.9 years of the area's median household income ($72,966 across the Flagstaff, 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 A+.
5 notable people were born here, including Lori Piestewa and Jonathan Nez.
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