Census-designated place · Santa Cruz County, Arizona
Tubac, Arizona
Tubac is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, part of the Nogales, AZ metro area. It has 1,294 residents. Tubac, Arizona has a quality-of-life score of 31 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,791 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arizona it ranks #72 of 207 cities and towns. It ranks best on preventable hospital stays (low), unemployment rate (low) and comfortable days (high). It ranks worst on rent as share of income (high), food environment index (low) and social associations (low).
- Quality-of-life score
- #10,791 of 15,651 cities and towns
- Arizona
- #72 of 207 in AZ
- Population
- 1,294 (2020-2024)
- Land area
- 11 mi²
- Density
- 119.3 /mi²
- FIPS code
- 0475940
Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.
Scores by category
Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.
- Safety45#8,553/15,637
- Economy64#5,691/15,631
- Housing15#12,670/14,977
- Health74#4,117/15,609
- Healthcare24#11,962/15,650
- Environment50#7,668/15,453
- Education28#11,268/15,649
- Infrastructure34#10,263/15,650
- Community29#11,127/15,651
- Leisure & amenities28#11,266/15,651
Strengths · Weaknesses
Indicators where Tubac, Arizona ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Santa Cruz 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
- Preventable hospital stays · low859 /100k100/100Arizona 2,070 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSanta Cruz County value
- Unemployment rate · low0.0%
- Comfortable days · high40.6%97/100Arizona 31.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSanta Cruz County value
- Loneliness · low28.5%96/100Arizona 32.7%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
- Life expectancy · high81.5 yrs93/100Arizona 77.3 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSanta Cruz County value
- Job growth · high2.7%92/100Arizona -0.6%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataSanta Cruz County value
Weaknesses
- Rent as share of income · high51.0%
- Food environment index · low5.83/100Arizona 6.8United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSanta Cruz County value
- Social associations · low4.3 /10k3/100Arizona 5.7 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSanta Cruz County value
- Pharmacies · low0.6 /10k5/100Arizona 1.4 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSanta Cruz County value
- Mental health care shortage · high18.06/100Arizona 7.4United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationSanta Cruz County value
- Mental health providers · low55 /100k7/100Arizona 208 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSanta Cruz County value
Trends
The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.
- PopulationFalling
1,375 (2015-2019) → 1,294 (2020-2024)
−5.9%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
- Child poverty rateWorsening
0.0% (2015-2019) → 76.6% (2020-2024)
+77 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
- Rent as share of incomeWorsening
18.1% (2015-2019) → 51.0% (2020-2024)
+33 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
- Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
19.4% (2015-2019) → 50.7% (2020-2024)
+31 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
- Broadband subscriptionsImproving
77.8% (2015-2019) → 90.5% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
- Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
12.0% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
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.
Cities and towns like Tubac, Arizona five years ago that improved
The places whose measures looked most like those of Tubac, 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.
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).
Income
How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.
Homes
Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.
Getting to work
How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.
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 Nogales, AZLocal 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.
Federal contracts performed here
Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Tubac is mostly in Santa Cruz County.
See federal money in Santa Cruz CountyRepresentation 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.
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.
Other cities and towns in Santa Cruz County
Largest first.
Similar cities and towns
Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).
- Key Vista, FL41Alike on Homeownership, Depression, Property tax
- Cañoncito, NM57Alike on Rent / income, Density, Population
- Winding Cypress, FL89Alike on Median age, Price / income, Population
- Cudjoe Key, FL67Alike on Property tax, Inactivity, Median age
- Big Pine Key, FL62Alike on Homeownership, Rent / income, Price / income
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
- 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