City profile · Arizona · Census ACS 2023

Rio Rico, AZ

Rio Rico's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

21,798
Residents
$63,692
Median income
$212,600
Median home
$1,419
Median rent (state)
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Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.

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Starting with Rio Rico, AZ - add up to three more cities on the compare page.

See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Rio Rico.

Place dossier plate

Sheet AZ-RIO-RICO-AZ · Rio Rico, AZ 21,798 pop · income 41st pct

POP-TOWN · INC-MID · COL-PAR · SAFE-UNK · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-TOWN 21,798
  • INC-MID $63,692
  • COL-PAR 100.7
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-MID 41st
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Lawrenceburg
  • HOME-MID $212,600
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Lawrenceburg, KY ( $2 income $)

Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.

Income neighbourhood around Rio Rico

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Rio Rico on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Rio Rico on ACS population and median household income . Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.

Similar population

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 21,798.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $63,692. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Rio Rico - the verdict

Nationally, Rio Rico sits in the 41st percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.

41st
percentile, household income
46th
percentile, home value
64th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this

Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.

Data Snapshot: Rio Rico, AZ

Rio Rico is a small city in Arizona, home to 21,798 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Rio Rico brings in $63,692 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 16.6%. Typical homes in Rio Rico are valued around $212,600, and the median resident age is 34.3 years. About 24.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 58.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.

Arizona tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 100.7 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,419 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Arizona's average monthly utility costs around $215 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 84.5 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Rio Rico's data

How this reading path is ordered

This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from schools and households to comparison shortlist to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Rio Rico, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count. No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

Question 1

What does the education layer cover for Rio Rico?

The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 24.4% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.

The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.

See how the family ranking is built →

Question 2

Which cities make useful reference points for Rio Rico?

Within Arizona, the closest population matches are Green Valley (21,581 residents, $58,268 income); Anthem (22,622 residents, $117,846 income); Fountain Hills (23,768 residents, $104,788 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Silver Firs, WA (21,796 residents); Lakeside CDP (San Diego County), CA (21,788 residents); Four Square Mile, CO (21,788 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.

Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

Question 3

How far does income reach against housing in Rio Rico?

The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 16.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.

Compare the housing trade-off →

4. Work and mobility

What does the journey to work look like in Rio Rico?

Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 84.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.

Compare commute patterns →

Population

21,798 residents

Small city (10k–49k)

Median Household Income

$63,692 /yr

Below median income · poverty 16.6% (High poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

100.7 (US=100)

Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Arizona average

City profile score · Rio Rico, AZ

36/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023

Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Bachelor's+ share D
24.4%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

Household income D
$63,692

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Cost of living F
100.7 index

BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.

Poverty rate F
16.6%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Rio Rico profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Bachelor's+ share, Household income, Cost of living, Poverty rate. Bachelor's+ shareHousehold incomeCost of livingPoverty rate 36 F
Rio Rico profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Bachelor's+ share: 47/100 (D) · 24.4%
  • Household income: 40/100 (D) · $63,692
  • Cost of living: 37/100 (F) · 100.7 index
  • Poverty rate: 20/100 (F) · 16.6%

How does Rio Rico compare to other US cities?

Here's how Rio Rico stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.

Household income 41% higher than other cities
Home value 46% pricier than other cities
Median rent 64% pricier than other cities

"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.

How we calculate these percentiles & ranks

Each percentile compares Rio Rico against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Arizona only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.

Arizona-relative analysis

Median Gross Rent places Rio Rico near the bottom of Arizona's cities

Among the 394 Arizona cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Rio Rico ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Rio Rico only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#133 of 333
60th percentile in Arizona
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 394
0th percentile in Arizona
Median Home Value
#148 of 327
55th percentile in Arizona
Poverty Rate
#135 of 393
66th percentile in Arizona
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#112 of 394
71st percentile in Arizona
How in-state ranks are ordered

Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Arizona only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.

41stIncome percentile
Gauge source note

41st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Rio Rico's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$212,600 Among the most affordable more affordable than 54% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). This entry sits in this band. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Above this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Rio Rico $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023

Rio Rico's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.3×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,291 of 15,516
More affordable than 47% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,326 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)

At 3.3×, Rio Rico sits in the moderate band: national rank #8,291 of 15,516 and #1,326 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999). Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.

How this ratio is calculated

Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000. Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0). This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.

Income distribution context

$63,692 Rio Rico, AZ median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Rio Rico, AZ Rio Rico, AZ's median household income ($63,692) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Rio Rico, AZ-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Rio Rico, AZ median $63,692/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Rio Rico, AZ median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Rio Rico, AZ.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 24.4%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 16.6%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 58.7%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
21,798
Median Income
$63,692
Median Home Value
$212,600
Median Age
34.3
Poverty Rate
16.6%
Labor force participation
58.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
24.4%

Schools

Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
84.7%
Carpool
8.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.3%
Work from Home
6.2%

Based on 8,965 workers 16 and over.

Monthly Utility Costs

Arizona statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $215

EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Arizona at $215 (electricity about $131 , water and sewer about $50 ).

These are Arizona statewide averages, not a meter reading for Rio Rico. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.

Living Costs & Risk

Arizona's BEA cost-of-living index is 100.7 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Rio Rico is $1,419/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Arizona statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 84.5 / 100 (High).

Cost/risk geography note

Cost of living is a Arizona statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Rio Rico sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Rio Rico compares to similar-size Arizona cities

Same-state peer method

Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.

City Population Median Household Income
Rio Rico (this city) 21,798 $63,692
Green Valley 21,581 $58,268
Anthem 22,622 $117,846
Fountain Hills 23,768 $104,788
NCES CCD
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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