Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,545, settled in 1896.
Whiteriver earns a D, ranked 134th of 139 in Arizona, mostly because of health and incomes. On CDC estimates, its residents' health ranks in the bottom 2% nationally. The median household income is $37K, and 42% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: a typical home costs about $60K, 1.1 years of the Show Low area’s $55K median household income. 42% of residents live below the poverty line in Whiteriver, above both the Arizona town median (12%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Among 140 Arizona towns, just 1 have a lower median household income than Whiteriver. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 78% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top.
Where Whiteriver beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| Widest gap | Whiteriver | AZ |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 31.9% | 7.2% |
Where Whiteriver’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 Whiteriver is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for cost of living (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for jobs and income (better than 1%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,257 in 1980, 4,520 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2011 and 3 maps from 1967 on.
Whiteriver is unincorporated, so Navajo 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 Whiteriver.
Whiteriver draws workers from Pinetop-Lakeside and beyond and has hotter summers than most of the country, though not than most of Arizona; it also is a long drive from an emergency room.
The nearest emergency room, Summit Healthcare Regional Medical Center, is 33 miles away in a straight line.
37% of Whiteriver adults smoke cigarettes. Only 4 of the 140 Arizona towns we compare have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Whiteriver. 38% of Whiteriver adults get no exercise outside work.
| Whiteriver | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 47% | 32% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Whiteriver | AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5% | 8.8% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 12% | 15.3% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 31.9% | 7.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Whiteriver Unified District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Alchesay High School, with 742 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whiteriver ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 400 | D− |
| Alchesay High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 742 | D− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AZ on state tests and graduation
2,306 jobs are based in Whiteriver, 2.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
57% of Whiteriver’s working residents work right in town. Whiteriver’s average trip to work is 22 minutes. Since 2013, Whiteriver has added 188 jobs, to 2,306 in 2023.
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
July afternoons average 88.9°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 85% of Arizona places with climate records; January nights average 23.8°.
Whiteriver has chilly winters and warm summers, with very little rain. The July high in Whiteriver is 89°F.
| Whiteriver | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 89°F | 100°F | 85°F |
| January low | 24°F | 37°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
9.6 miles of trail in 0 parks and preserves. Among 136 Arizona towns, just 7 have a lower share of conserved land than Whiteriver.
| Whiteriver | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.1% | 15% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 1.1 | 0.4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Whiteriver; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Whiteriver residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Arizona.
4,104 counted in 2010 and 4,520 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Census-designated place in Navajo County, Arizona, United States
Whiteriver (Western Apache: Chʼilwózh) is a census-designated place (CDP) on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. The population was 4,104 at the 2010 census, making it the largest settlement on the reservation.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Whiteriver.
| Town | AZ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whiteriver | #134 | D | A+ | — | C− | D− |
| Rainbow City | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Turkey Creek | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Seven Mile | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| North Fork | — | — | A | — | C− | D |
| Fort Apache | — | — | — | — | — | — |
North Fork has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Whiteriver and North Fork report no FBI crime data of their own. Rainbow City, Turkey Creek, Seven Mile and Fort Apache aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Whiteriver with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Whiteriver grades D overall, better than 7% of U.S. towns and #134 of 139 in Arizona. It grades D− for health and C− for schools. Health 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+.