8 Safest Small Communities To Settle In Arizona
Whether you’re looking for a place to retire, raise a family, or just live a peaceful life in Arizona, these towns are perfect places to set down roots. With each selected town featuring several attractions, residents are also assured of fun experiences. Some of these small communities in Arizona are even short distances from Arizona’s largest cities like Phoenix and Tucson, making them the best of both worlds. Read on for a list of the safest places to call home in Arizona in 2025, according to the FBI's Crime Data Explorer (CDE).
Oro Valley
Oro Valley is a rapidly growing town on the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains, only a few miles from Tucson. It boasts one of the lowest crime rates for towns of its size in Arizona, making it excellent for families, retirees, and all who appreciate peaceful living. To add to that, Oro Valley’s proximity to Tucson, Arizona’s second-largest city, means easy access to prime facilities and attractions, such as Tucson International Airport and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a world-famous zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, and natural history museum.
Meanwhile, Oro Valley itself is home to Gaslight Music Hall, which offers premium entertainment year-round, as well as the Oro Valley Aquatic Center, an amazing water facility featuring a waterslide, splash pad, and a multiple-lane pool, among other attractions. Honey Bee Canyon Park is also in Oro Valley to delight residents with three miles of hiking trails leading through a Sonoran Desert landscape with gorgeous local flora, including the majestic saguaros, alongside petroglyphs and stunning mountain vistas.
Sierra Vista
Sierra Vista is not only a safe place for settlement, but it is also home to a couple of attractions that make it exciting. The nearby San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area is one such spot featuring hundreds of bird species, wildlife, archaeological sites dating back thousands of years, and a river teeming with fish. The San Pedro River Trail, the park’s most popular trail beginning from San Pedro House, invites hikers, horseback riders, and bikers on a 10-mile adventure through a beautiful riparian landscape, with fishing and wildlife watching opportunities.
Sierra Vista is also near Carr Canyon Road, which winds through a beautiful and dramatic landscape to the upper reaches of the Huachuca Mountains, where spectacular views of the town and the area can be enjoyed. Elsewhere, hikers and bikers can always hit the Brown Canyon Trail for a pleasurable adventure to desert areas full of trees and elevated spots with impressive mountain scenery.
Paradise Valley
Paradise Valley is a charming town on Mummy Mountain, with so much to offer. Populated by just 12,000 people, the community is laid-back and notably safe, making it the perfect settlement for convenience and tranquility. It is near Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona’s capital and largest city, which means easy access to world-class facilities and attractions, such as Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Scottsdale’s Butterfly Wonderland, the largest of its kind in the US.
In addition, residents in Paradise Valley have the Costanti Originals to explore handcrafted artworks from bowls to windbells. For adventurers, Camelback Mountain is nearby, featuring several trails, including the 1-mile Echo Canyon Trail, which ascends to the 1,280-foot peak of the mountain, where impressive views of downtown Phoenix and the surrounding mountains await.
Sahuarita
Sahuarita sits in the Southern reaches of Arizona, where it boasts a crime rate significantly lower than most US cities. When it comes to recreation, residents in this town have Sahuarita Lake, where they can enjoy fishing and boating, while the Safari Park is a cool place to stroll through green areas and see life-size bronze statues of African animals such as elephants and gorillas.
Sahuarita also hosts the famous Desert Diamond Casinos & Entertainment, which offers everything from shows and concerts to games, dining, and lodging. Notably, Sahuarita is less than 30 minutes from Tucson, meaning proximity to some of the state’s top attractions and facilities, including Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, where over 30 miles of multi-use trails offer access to towering canyons, waterfalls, and lush desert vegetation teeming with wildlife.
Chino Valley
Chino Valley checks several boxes to make a place comfortable to settle in Arizona. For starters, its crime rate is incredibly low, compared to national and state averages. Chino Valley also offers abundant recreation opportunities, especially with attractions such as Granite Creek Vineyards, a family-owned and operated winery where award-winning red, white, and dessert wines can be enjoyed alongside live music. Those who love hiking, biking, and horseback riding will have the five-mile Peavine Trail to explore with views of the open landscape, granite formations, and distant mountains, while back in town, Memorial Park offers a gorgeous green space for relaxation, sports, and walking.
Even more exciting, Prescott National Forest, one of Arizona’s top natural attractions, covering over a million acres and featuring hundreds of miles of trails, is a few miles away, meaning endless recreation for residents in Chino Valley. From this town, one can easily hike the 3-mile Sycamore Trail through a beautiful canyon wilderness, or enjoy a scenic 21-mile ride with spectacular mountain and desert vistas to the historic town of Jerome.
Florence
Florence, the county seat of Pinal County, is a safe haven for settlement and is only around an hour from Tucson and Phoenix, meaning easy access to Arizona’s top attractions. In Florence, residents enjoy attractions such as the McFarland State Historic Park, where historic structures, including the First Pinal County Courthouse, built in 1878, offer a step back to Arizona’s frontier era.
Florence is also home to the meticulous St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery, considered the largest monastery of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The monastery is steeped in ancient traditions and welcomes guests; however, there are strict codes of conduct, so be sure to check the guide on their website before visiting. As for thrillseekers, the Box Canyon Trail is nearby, offering a more than 20-mile off-road adventure through a stunning canyon.
Wickenburg
Populated by just over 7,000 people, Wickenburg is a small town ideal for a relaxed lifestyle. According to FBI crime data for a five-year period, the town’s overall crime rate was below the state and national averages. Add that to the town’s laid-back atmosphere and strong sense of community, and it becomes a true paradise for peaceful living. While it is just an hour from Phoenix, residents have plenty of things to enjoy right in town, including year-round entertainment at the 600-seat Del E Webb Center for the Performing Arts and hundreds of artworks on display at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum that reflect the history of the American West.
A couple of trails add to the list of things to do in this town, with the Vulture Peak Trail being the most popular, looping nearly 5 miles and presenting impressive views of the surrounding Sonoran Desert and mountains. Nature enthusiasts also have the nearby Hassayampa River Preserve to enjoy hiking with gorgeous natural scenery. This preserve is an oasis in the Sonoran Desert, featuring year-round flowing water, lush trees, and thriving wildlife and bird population.
Prescott Valley
Prescott Valley is a delightful and rapidly growing town in central Arizona, boasting low crime rates and safe streets. Living in Prescott Valley also promises to be fun, as the town has a couple of attractions, one of which is the Finlady Toyota Center. This multi-purpose arena is a great hangout where one can catch some of the state’s best concerts, sporting events, and shows. With Harkins Theatres also in town, residents are guaranteed more year-round entertainment.
For those who love the outdoors, Prescott Valley is home to a few parks, like Fain Park, which has walking trails, a fishing lake, and picnic areas. Furthermore, the town has several trails to delight hikers and bikers, including the seven-mile Iron King Trail, which winds through granite formations and presents impressive views of Watson Lake and the area.
Life In These Arizona Towns Can Be Both Peaceful and Exciting
Arizona, with its striking desert landscape, rich history, and sunny climate, is an ideal place to live, work, play, and retire. Some of America’s best features sit proudly in this state, including the iconic Saguaro cactus, the Grand Canyon, and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the US. Enjoy all of these and more when you settle into these small towns, which also sit at the top of the list of safest places in Arizona. From Florence to Prescott Valley, these sweet spots promise peaceful neighborhoods alongside a host of attractions and facilities that make life enjoyable.
