Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Arizona

Fort Defiance, Arizona

Fort Defiance is an unincorporated community of about 3,400 people in Apache County, Arizona, about 6,800 feet above sea level. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 0.7 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Phoenix, is about 228 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
3,351
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$37,400
Apache County prices up 15% since 2022
Household income
$56,045
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Arizona
81.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Fort Defiance Indian Hospital
To Phoenix
228 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 18.3% below the U.S. average in the parts of Arizona outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 0.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town5 public schools: 1 elementary, 2 middle, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byFort Defiance Indian Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPhoenix is about 228 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Fort Defiance meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$37,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 15%Apache County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$856 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$56,045U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
52%U.S.: 65%
Homes built before 1940
4%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
5%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
81.7U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Arizona outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 15% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Arizona outside metro areas, not Fort Defiance alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
3,351The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
32.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
13%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
21%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%U.S.: 6%
College students
7%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (41%); government (22%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (9%)
Average commute
19 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
3%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
13%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Fort Defiance Indian Hospital, Ft. Defiance, AZ, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

5 public schools in Fort Defiance, run by Window Rock Unified District (4154).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Arizona's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
46%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
70%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
14°F
July average high
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
24 a year
Nights at or below freezing
196 a year
Rain and melted snow
10.7 inches a year
Snow
34 inches a year
Elevation
6,799 feet

Weather stations: Window Rock Ap (6 miles away) and Gallup Muni Ap (22 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Rio Rancho, Phoenix.

Apache County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Canyon de Chelly National Monument20 miles
  • Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site27 miles
  • Chaco Culture National Historical Park53 miles
  • Petrified Forest National Park53 miles

Read about Fort Defiance's history on Wikipedia.

Know Fort Defiance?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Window Rock, AZ (unincorporated)2,477 people, 5 miles
  • St. Michaels, AZ (unincorporated)1,142 people, 6 miles
  • Sawmill, AZ (unincorporated)636 people, 11 miles
  • Navajo, NM (unincorporated)2,181 people, 11 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.