Town · Gila County, Arizona

Star Valley, Arizona

Star Valley is a town in Gila County, Arizona, part of the Payson, AZ metro area. It has 2,525 residents. Star Valley, Arizona has a quality-of-life score of 25 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,781 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arizona it ranks #93 of 207 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent as share of income (low), unemployment rate (low) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low). It ranks worst on suicide rate (high), reading scores (low) and firearm deaths (high).

25Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,781 of 15,651 cities and towns
Arizona: #93 of 207 in AZ
Population: 2,525 (2020-2024)
Land area: 36 mi²
Density: 69.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 0469480

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.

Safety8#14,334/15,637
Economy61#6,054/15,631
Housing64#5,321/14,977
Health27#11,346/15,609
Healthcare11#13,937/15,650
Environment33#10,406/15,453
Education4#14,967/15,649
Infrastructure42#9,080/15,650
Community65#5,528/15,651
Leisure & amenities39#9,475/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Star Valley, Arizona ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Gila 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

Rent as share of income · low17.8%
99/100Arizona 30.8%United States 30.6%2019-2023U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Unemployment rate · low0.0%
98/100Arizona 4.3%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.7 µg/m³
98/100Arizona 6.9 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyGila County value
Public libraries · high1.7 /10k
88/100Arizona 0.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesGila County value
Comfortable days · high32.0%
87/100Arizona 31.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationGila County value
Adult obesity · low29.2%
81/100Arizona 33.3%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Weaknesses

Suicide rate · high66.7 /100k
0/100Arizona 20.8 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataGila County value
Reading scores · low2.29
0/100Arizona 2.92United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGila County value
Firearm deaths · high42.6 /100k
1/100Arizona 18.1 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataGila County value
Distance to an emergency room · high31.2 mi
1/100Arizona 5.7 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesGila County value
Math scores · low2.26
1/100Arizona 2.91United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGila County value
Premature death · high18,295 /100k
1/100Arizona 9,154 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGila County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,603 (2015-2019) → 2,525 (2020-2024)
+58%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
49.8% (2015-2019) → 88.2% (2020-2024)
+38 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$28,058 (2015-2019) → $65,426 (2020-2024)
+133%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
40.5% (2015-2019) → 15.5% (2020-2024)
−25 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
7.5% (2015-2019) → 29.7% (2020-2024)
+22 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
New homes permittedWorsening
3.2 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k

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, Star Valley, Arizona improved on 1 of 8 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 7 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.

Improved1

Broadband+38 points49.8% → 88.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 8 measures

Change of every measure of Star Valley, Arizona between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.4%2015-2019	15.5%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	17%
Broadband subscriptions	49.8%2015-2019	88.2%2020-2024	+38 points	Improved	99%
Child poverty rate	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Effective property tax rate	0.75%2015-2019	0.84%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	7%
High school diploma or higher	89.3%2015-2019	95.9%2020-2024	+6.6 points	Within the margin of error	88%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4532015-2019	0.5382020-2024	+0.085	Within the margin of error	7%
Median household income	$28,0582015-2019	$65,4262020-2024	+133%	Within the margin of error	100%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%

“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 Star Valley, Arizona five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Star Valley, 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.

No place that looked like Star Valley, Arizona five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

For comparison, Star Valley, Arizona itself moved +7.7 points in standing on average over the same 6 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

2,525 residents (±16)

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

1,448 households (±247)

Star Valley, Arizona
Arizona share

Under $25k28%†411
$25k–50k20%†283
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,448 households (±247)

Star Valley, Arizona
Arizona share

Own87%1,261
Rent13%†187

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,180 workers (±305)

Star Valley, Arizona
Arizona share

Drive alone77%†903
Carpool1.3%†15
Public transit

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 Payson, 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 Gila County, the county holding most of Star Valley's residents.

Gila County has 1,065 employer establishments, 197 for every 10,000 residents (0.79× the US rate of 248; 0.90× Arizona's), with 12,495 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,757. The Census Bureau also counts 3,803 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,065; 3,803 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 197; US 248 · Arizona 219
Paid employees: 12,495
Average annual pay: $51,757; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	105	19.4	1.06×About typical	1,565	$22,792	33
Ambulatory health care services	102	18.9	0.91×About typical	860	$62,222	147
Specialty trade contractors	90	16.7	1.08×About typical	525	$50,229	369
Lessors of real estate	69	12.8	1.04×About typical	112	$41,402	388
Full-service restaurants	57	10.5	1.37×More than typical	698	$26,140	18
Construction of buildings	42	7.8	1.03×About typical	194	$43,660	153
Offices of physicians	40	7.4	1.14×About typical	213	$99,531	18
Limited-service restaurants	38	7	0.88×About typical	743	$20,653	8
Building equipment contractors	37	6.8	1.14×About typical	111	$36,441	83
Religious organizations	36	6.7	1.20×About typical	122	$26,893	—
Real estate agents and brokers	32	5.9	1.22×About typical	41	$46,927	161
Other specialty trade contractors	24	4.4	1.77×More than typical	279	$60,362	131

Rank places for an industry Open Gila County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 54,040 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 $358.3K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Star Valley, Arizona: $142 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $358.3K; +124% vs FY2025
Per resident: $142; US $1,995
Sole-source: 5.7%; US 30%
Single offer: 3.1%; 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

Federal Highway Administration$192.1K54%
Forest Service$131.5K37%
Department of Veterans Affairs$20.5K5.7%
Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education$12.2K3.4%
Defense Logistics Agency$2,0090.6%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

223.8KFY2017
371.3KFY2018
193KFY2019
397.8KFY2020
31.9KFY2021
106.3KFY2022
51.9KFY2023
287.8K

Top industries (NAICS)

Highway, street, and bridge construction · 2373$193.7K54%
Nonscheduled air transportation · 4812$84K23%
Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities) · 6231$25.6K7.1%
Forest nurseries and gathering of forest products · 1132$25K7.0%
Support activities for forestry · 1153$13.6K3.8%
Building equipment contractors · 2382

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 7, 2026, loaded Oct 7, 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 Star Valley, Arizona, so they do not add up across cities.

Star Valley, Arizona's figures are part of those of Gila County, AZ ($9M in FY2026), never added to them: 4.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Star Valley is mostly in Gila County.

See federal money in Gila 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.

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

House

Elijah CraneR-AZ-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 2.2%

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.

Gila County19100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Payson, AZ24

Other cities and towns in Gila 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/0469480

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends