Town · La Paz County, Arizona

Parker, Arizona

Parker is a town in La Paz County, Arizona. It has 3,388 residents. Parker, Arizona has a quality-of-life score of 17 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,918 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arizona it ranks #121 of 207 cities and towns. It ranks best on public EV charging ports (high), average commute time (low) and grocery stores (high). It ranks worst on suicide rate (high), premature death (high) and traffic deaths (high).

17Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,918 of 15,651 cities and towns
Arizona: #121 of 207 in AZ
Population: 3,388 (2020-2024)
Land area: 22 mi²
Density: 154.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 0453070

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 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.

Safety16#13,103/15,637
Economy18#12,789/15,631
Housing72#4,166/14,977
Health18#12,830/15,609
Healthcare7#14,550/15,650
Environment61#6,054/15,453
Education11#13,998/15,649
Infrastructure46#8,508/15,650
Community14#13,451/15,651
Leisure & amenities47#8,280/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Parker, Arizona ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “La Paz 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

Public EV charging ports · high101.1 /10k
100/100Arizona 6.2 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyLa Paz County value
Average commute time · low11.2 min
98/100Arizona 25.4 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Grocery stores · high3.6 /10k
97/100Arizona 1.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsLa Paz County value
Public libraries · high3.0 /10k
96/100Arizona 0.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesLa Paz County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low5.6 µg/m³
93/100Arizona 6.9 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyLa Paz County value
Comfortable days · high34.2%
93/100Arizona 31.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationLa Paz County value

Weaknesses

Suicide rate · high59.8 /100k
0/100Arizona 20.8 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataLa Paz County value
Premature death · high25,195 /100k
0/100Arizona 9,154 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLa Paz County value
Traffic deaths · high113.7 /100k
0/100Arizona 16.6 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataLa Paz County value
Firearm deaths · high65.8 /100k
0/100Arizona 18.1 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataLa Paz County value
Drug overdose deaths · high77.8 /100k
1/100Arizona 35.9 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataLa Paz County value
Life expectancy · low67.7 yrs
1/100Arizona 77.3 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLa Paz County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
3,132 (2015-2019) → 3,388 (2020-2024)
+8.2%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.8× (2015-2019) → 4.5× (2020-2024)
+64%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
10.0% (2015-2019) → 22.7% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
High school diploma or higherImproving
76.3% (2015-2019) → 84.7% (2020-2024)
+8.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Child poverty rateImproving
18.2% (2015-2019) → 11.4% (2020-2024)
−6.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
83.3% (2015-2019) → 89.8% (2020-2024)
+6.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Parker, Arizona improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 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.

Improved2

Bachelor's++13 points10.0% → 22.7%
Uninsured−5.7 points19.1% → 13.3%

Declined1

Price / income+1.8×2.8× → 4.5×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Parker, Arizona between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	12.2 min2015-2019	11.2 min2020-2024	−1.0 min	Within the margin of error	60%
Bachelor's degree or higher	10.0%2015-2019	22.7%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	95%
Broadband subscriptions	83.3%2015-2019	89.8%2020-2024	+6.5 points	Within the margin of error	41%
Child poverty rate	18.2%2015-2019	11.4%2020-2024	−6.8 points	Within the margin of error	74%
Effective property tax rate	0.45%2015-2019	0.53%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	8%
High school diploma or higher	76.3%2015-2019	84.7%2020-2024	+8.3 points	Within the margin of error	93%
Home price to income ratio	2.8×2015-2019	4.5×2020-2024	+1.8×	Declined	6%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4472015-2019	0.4652020-2024	+0.018	Within the margin of error	35%
Median household income	$57,1882015-2019	$66,2732020-2024	+16%	Within the margin of error	25%
Poverty rate	13.1%2015-2019	12.7%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	23.6%2015-2019	20.1%2020-2024	−3.5 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Rent-burdened households	32.4%2015-2019	35.4%2020-2024	+3 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	19.1%2015-2019	13.3%2020-2024	−5.7 points	Improved	89%

“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 Parker, Arizona five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Parker, 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, Parker, Arizona itself moved −2.3 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

3,388 residents (±47)

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

1,407 households (±144)

Parker, Arizona
Arizona share

Under $25k14%†191
$25k–50k22%306
$50k–75k19%†269

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,407 households (±144)

Parker, Arizona
Arizona share

Own61%856
Rent39%551

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

1,615 workers (±145)

Parker, Arizona
Arizona share

Drive alone74%1,198
Carpool11%†183
Public transit0.0%0

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 La Paz County, the county holding most of Parker's residents.

La Paz County has 352 employer establishments, 212 for every 10,000 residents (0.85× the US rate of 248; 0.97× Arizona's), with 4,056 paid employees at an average annual pay of $39,152. The Census Bureau also counts 946 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 352; 946 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 212; US 248 · Arizona 219
Paid employees: 4,056
Average annual pay: $39,152; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	39	23.5	1.28×More than typical	497	$21,266	14
Gasoline stations	27	16.3	5.01×More than typical	557	$35,761	—
Lessors of real estate	24	14.4	1.17×About typical	105	$24,019	94
Ambulatory health care services	20	12	0.58×Fewer than typical	129	$64,240	26
Full-service restaurants	18	10.8	1.41×More than typical	213	$19,423	9
Limited-service restaurants	18	10.8	1.35×More than typical	261	$23,617	3
Traveler accommodation	14	8.4	4.67×More than typical	626	$37,278	7
RV parks and recreational camps	13	7.8	33.0×More than typical	135	$29,326	4
Specialty trade contractors	13	7.8	0.51×Fewer than typical	40	$33,100	72
Auto parts, accessories and tire stores	9	5.4	3.10×Too few to compare	60	$30,933	6
General merchandise stores	9	5.4	3.06×Too few to compare	251	$29,637	7
Grocery and convenience stores	9	5.4	1.83×Too few to compare	215	$24,651	4

Rank places for an industry Open La Paz County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 16,615 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 $870.7K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Parker, Arizona: $257 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $870.7K; +6.1% vs FY2025
Per resident: $257; US $1,994
Sole-source: 4.6%; US 30%
Single offer: 2.7%; 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

Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education$550K63%
Indian Health Service$293.7K34%
Department of Energy$13.7K1.6%
Bureau of Reclamation$7,0230.8%
Departmental Offices$2,7290.3%
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service$1,1980.1%
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources$1,0630.1%
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission$8240.1%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

283.2KFY2017
249.3KFY2018
287.4KFY2019
378.7KFY2020
331KFY2021
588.7KFY2022
294.7KFY2023
432.3K

Top industries (NAICS)

Other heavy and civil engineering construction · 2379$523.1K60%
Offices of other health practitioners · 6213$138.1K16%
Medical and diagnostic laboratories · 6215$37.6K4.3%
Electrical equipment manufacturing · 3353$13.7K1.6%
Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing · 3254$13.2K1.5%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413

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 Parker, Arizona, so they do not add up across cities.

Parker, Arizona's figures are part of those of La Paz County, AZ ($36.2M in FY2026), never added to them: 2.4% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Parker is mostly in La Paz County.

See federal money in La Paz 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.

Parker, Arizona is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Paul A. GosarR-AZ-9 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 6.4%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

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

La Paz County14100% of residents

Other cities and towns in La Paz 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/0453070

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends