Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,189, settled in 1880.
Willcox earns a D, 119th among Arizona's 139 graded towns, mostly because of incomes and health. The median household income is $44K, and 19% of residents live below the poverty line. Residents are less healthy than 78% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. In its favor, it is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. Willcox has 14 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Sierra Bonita Ranch and Hooker Town House. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 88% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Among 93 Arizona towns, just 5 have a lower value of a typical home than Willcox.
Where Willcox beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 396 in 1890, a low of 396 in 1890, 3,213 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1898 and 4 maps from 1943 on.
14 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arizona), ordered by how far Willcox is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Willcox, 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 Willcox.
Willcox has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and fares better on crime within Arizona than nationally.
The typical value, about $198K, is 9% below its August 2022 peak.
In Willcox, 56% of households are owner-occupiers, below both the Arizona town median (76%) and the median of U.S. towns (73%). Home values are down 2.3% over the year to September 2026. Its median rent is $1,024 a month.
| Willcox | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,024 a month | $1,206 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The largest public high school is Willcox High School, with 408 students. Public schools: the Willcox Unified District. Two of its 4 schools are shown below, with the reason for each.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willcox Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 378 | B |
| Willcox High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 408 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AZ on state tests and graduation
5 flood insurance claims have been paid in Willcox since 1983. Expected losses in Willcox break down as 81% from inland flooding and 12% from heat waves.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 3,652 U.S. towns with household incomes like Willcox’s, it is healthier than 66%, so that grade isn’t only a matter of income.
Among adults in Willcox, 27% worry about having enough food. In Willcox, 29% of adults say their health is fair or poor, above both Arizona’s towns (21%) and U.S. towns (19%). The town does better than the Arizona average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 20.
| Willcox | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 12% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 15% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 21% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Willcox | AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.1% | 8.8% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 12.4% | 7.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 25.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 54% of Arizona’s graded towns.
Willcox’s rate of reported violence stands at 3.7 per 1,000 residents. Its property offense rate is 10.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Willcox | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.9 per 1,000 residents | 11.1 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Willcox weather station records that about 119 days a year reach 90°, more than in 98% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 94.9°, hotter than in 96% of U.S. towns; January nights average 28.3°.
Willcox’s peak summer temperature comes in at 95°F. About 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Willcox | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 95°F | 100°F | 85°F |
| January low | 28°F | 37°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Willcox has about as many jobs (1,197) as working residents, but only 342 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 15.8 minutes, against 25.4 across Arizona.
Among 140 Arizona towns, just 7 have a lower typical household income than Willcox. In Willcox, 28% of working residents work locally. The top destinations are Tucson (14%), Phoenix (6%) and Safford (3%). The typical journey to work for Willcox comes to 16 minutes.
| Willcox | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 28% | 10% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $44,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1.8 miles of trail wind through 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Quail Park, at 62 acres. In Willcox, the trail network density is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Willcox | Arizona towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 1.1 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.9% | 15% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Quail Park | — | 62 |
| 2. Keiller Park and Recreation Center | — | 17 |
| 3. Historic Railroad Avenue Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Willcox; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Willcox residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Arizona.
3,757 counted in 2010 and 3,213 in 2020; an estimated 3,189 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
14 places in Willcox on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Willcox.
City in Arizona, United States
Willcox is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, Willcox had a population of 3,213. The city is located in the Sulphur Springs Valley, a flat and sparsely populated drainage basin dotted with seasonal lakes. The city is surrounded by Arizona's most prominent mountain ranges, including the Pinaleño Mountains and the Chiricahua Mountains. Six of Arizona's ten largest mountains are located within a 70-mile radius including Mount Graham (31 miles north), which is Arizona's most prominent mountain, Chiricahua Peak (42 miles southeast), Mount Lemmon (57 miles west), Miller Peak (65 miles southwest), Mica Mountain (41 miles west), and Mount Wrightson (70 miles so…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Willcox grades D overall, better than 13% of U.S. towns and #119 of 139 in Arizona. It grades C− for health, C for safety and B− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3.3 years of the area's median household income ($59,742 across the Sierra Vista-Douglas, 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 B−.
4 notable people were born here, including Rex Allen and Lilly McElroy.
