City · Pinal County, Arizona

Apache Junction, Arizona

Apache Junction is a city in Pinal County, Arizona, part of the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metro area. It has 41,058 residents. Apache Junction, Arizona has a quality-of-life score of 11 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,889 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arizona it ranks #160 of 207 cities and towns. It ranks best on new homes permitted (high), comfortable days (high) and effective property tax rate (low). It ranks worst on restaurants and bars (low), hot days (high) and grocery stores (low).

11Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,889 of 15,651 cities and towns
Arizona: #160 of 207 in AZ
Population: 41,058 (2020-2024)
Land area: 45 mi²
Density: 903.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 0402830

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety44#8,754/15,637
Economy45#8,561/15,631
Housing48#7,745/14,977
Health36#9,964/15,609
Healthcare15#13,292/15,650
Environment22#12,040/15,453
Education5#14,854/15,649
Infrastructure21#12,392/15,650
Community12#13,782/15,651
Leisure & amenities0#15,609/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Apache Junction, Arizona ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Pinal County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

New homes permitted · high37.9 /1k
98/100Arizona 6.3 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Comfortable days · high33.4%
91/100Arizona 31.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationPinal County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.50%
88/100Arizona 0.48%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Preventable hospital stays · low2,004 /100k
85/100Arizona 2,070 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePinal County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low6.4 µg/m³
83/100Arizona 6.9 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyPinal County value
Child care cost burden · low23.9%
81/100Arizona 29.9%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePinal County value

Weaknesses

Restaurants and bars · low2.4 /10k
1/100Arizona 6.4 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPinal County value
Hot days · high155 days
1/100Arizona 96 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationPinal County value
Grocery stores · low0.5 /10k
2/100Arizona 1.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPinal County value
Social associations · low3.5 /10k
2/100Arizona 5.7 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePinal County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.1 /10k
3/100Arizona 4.2 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPinal County value
High ozone days · high18 days
3/100Arizona 27 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyPinal County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedImproving
6.6 /1k (2021) → 37.9 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+472%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.9% (2015-2019) → 88.7% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
20.8% (2015-2019) → 10.2% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.3× (2015-2019) → 3.5× (2020-2024)
+50%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
48.7% (2015-2019) → 55.7% (2020-2024)
+6.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$45,653 (2015-2019) → $60,975 (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Apache Junction, Arizona improved on 4 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 8 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved4

Child poverty−11 points20.8% → 10.2%
Broadband+13 points75.9% → 88.7%
Poverty−3.4 points13.9% → 10.6%
Household income+34%$45,653 → $60,975

Declined1

Price / income+1.2×2.3× → 3.5×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Apache Junction, Arizona between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	28.5 min2015-2019	28.1 min2020-2024	−0.4 min	Within the margin of error	52%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.5%2015-2019	18.1%2020-2024	+1.6 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Broadband subscriptions	75.9%2015-2019	88.7%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	72%
Child poverty rate	20.8%2015-2019	10.2%2020-2024	−11 points	Improved	83%
Effective property tax rate	0.75%2015-2019	0.50%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Little change	68%
High school diploma or higher	87.2%2015-2019	87.5%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	36%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	3.5×2020-2024	+1.2×	Declined	17%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4432015-2019	0.4252020-2024	−0.018	Within the margin of error	66%
Median household income	$45,6532015-2019	$60,9752020-2024	+34%	Improved	63%
Poverty rate	13.9%2015-2019	10.6%2020-2024	−3.4 points	Improved	72%
Rent as share of income	29.4%2015-2019	32.3%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Within the margin of error	34%
Rent-burdened households	48.7%2015-2019	55.7%2020-2024	+6.9 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Unemployment rate	8.4%2015-2019	6.5%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	81%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	11.9%2015-2019	13.6%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Within the margin of error	28%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Apache Junction, Arizona five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Apache Junction, Arizona in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Apache Junction, Arizona itself moved −2.7 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

41,058 residents (±348)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

18,015 households (±634)

Apache Junction, Arizona
Arizona share

Under $25k17%3,041
$25k–50k25%4,507
$50k–75k19%3,335

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

18,015 households (±634)

Apache Junction, Arizona
Arizona share

Own79%14,241
Rent21%3,774

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

15,752 workers (±852)

Apache Junction, Arizona
Arizona share

Drive alone74%11,701
Carpool7.7%1,209
Public transit0.1%†8

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Pinal County, the county holding most of Apache Junction's residents.

Pinal County has 4,723 employer establishments, 97.1 for every 10,000 residents (0.39× the US rate of 248; 0.44× Arizona's), with 63,258 paid employees at an average annual pay of $50,659. The Census Bureau also counts 31,956 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 4,723; 31,956 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 97.1; US 248 · Arizona 219
Paid employees: 63,258
Average annual pay: $50,659; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Pinal County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	444	9.1	0.59×Fewer than typical	3,819	$59,611	2,280
Ambulatory health care services	424	8.7	0.42×Fewer than typical	3,625	$71,456	1,541
Restaurants and other eating places	354	7.3	0.40×Fewer than typical	7,981	$21,510	133
Lessors of real estate	292	6	0.49×Fewer than typical	1,125	$32,610	2,138
Building equipment contractors	200	4.1	0.68×Fewer than typical	860	$55,701	584
Limited-service restaurants	194	4	0.50×Fewer than typical	4,818	$20,652	53
Services to buildings and dwellings	184	3.8	0.56×Fewer than typical	837	$39,786	1,973
Offices of other health practitioners	138	2.8	0.47×Fewer than typical	785	$44,729	585
Construction of buildings	136	2.8	0.37×Fewer than typical	650	$59,291	925
Real estate agents and brokers	136	2.8	0.57×Fewer than typical	164	$47,293	1,057
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors	133	2.7	0.83×About typical	499	$55,747	327
Truck transportation	129	2.7	0.52×Fewer than typical	694	$67,288	699

Rank places for an industry Open Pinal County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 486,554 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Apache Junction, Arizona: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

324.3KFY2017
163.4KFY2018
335.5KFY2019
238.1KFY2020
42.3KFY2022
820.6KFY2023
677.6KFY2024
163.3KFY2025

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Apache Junction, Arizona, so they do not add up across cities.

Apache Junction, Arizona's figures are part of those of Pinal County, AZ and Maricopa County, AZ ($11.6B in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Apache Junction is mostly in Pinal County.

See federal money in Pinal County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Apache Junction, Arizona is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ54

Other cities and towns in Pinal County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/0402830

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends