Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town was settled in 1896 and has 4,545 residents today.
The data are hard on it. Whiteriver grades D overall, better than 7% of U.S. towns. It ranks 134th of 139 in Arizona. Its weakest subject is health: on CDC estimates, its residents' health ranks in the bottom 2% nationally. Incomes are weaker too: the median household income is $37K, and just over two in five residents live below the poverty line. Where it does best is cost of living: a typical home costs about $60K, 1.1 years of the Show Low area’s $55K median household income. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 78% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. 0.1% of the land in the town is conserved, below both Arizona’s towns (15%) and U.S. towns (4.3%).
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · FEMA National Risk Index · USGS PAD-US.
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.
47% of Whiteriver adults have obesity. Of the 140 Arizona towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Whiteriver. The town beats the Arizona average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 28.
| Whiteriver | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 21% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 47% | 32% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 12% |
| 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
The public schools here belong to the Whiteriver Unified District. The largest public high school is Alchesay High School, with 742 students. Two of its 3 schools are shown below, with the reason for each.
| 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.
Employers in Whiteriver added 188 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 2,306. Only one of the 140 Arizona towns we compare has a lower typical household income than Whiteriver. The median commute is under 2 miles. In Whiteriver, the average commute is 22 minutes.
| Whiteriver | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 42% | 12% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $37,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
40% of Whiteriver’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by wildfires at 30%.
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°.
The peak summer temperature locally 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
Among 136 Arizona towns, just 7 have a lower share of conserved land than Whiteriver. 9.6 miles of trail. Also worth knowing: for Whiteriver, the trail density is 0.6 miles per square mile.
| 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+.