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Towns / Arizona

Star Valley, Arizona

Star Valley is a small town of about 2,500 people in Gila County, Arizona, about 4,900 feet above sea level. Its population has held about steady since 2020. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Phoenix, is about 69 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,538
up 1.9% since 2020
Prices, rural Arizona
81.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
57 miles
Cottonwood, AZ
To Phoenix
69 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 moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Star Valley to say.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Star Valley itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Payson High School, about 7 miles away.
  • A hospital close byVerde Valley Medical Center in Cottonwood, about 57 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPhoenix is about 69 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 Star Valley 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

Home prices since then
Up 4%Gila County, 2022 to 2025
Homes owned by the people living in them
87%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,225 a yearArizona: $1,879
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
20%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
17%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 4% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Arizona outside metro areas, not Star Valley 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, 2025 estimate
2,5382020: 2,490
Median age
63.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
46%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
8%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
15%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
9%U.S.: 6%

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 (19%)
Unemployment rate
0%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
10%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
6%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Verde Valley Medical Center, Cottonwood, AZ, about 57 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

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

There are no public schools inside Star Valley itself. The nearest public high school is Payson High School, about 7 miles away.

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 any internet subscription
88%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
26°F
July average high
92°F
Days 90°F or hotter
65 a year
Nights at or below freezing
125 a year
Rain and melted snow
19.8 inches a year
Snow
18 inches a year
Elevation
4,867 feet

Weather station: Payson (7 miles away). 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: Verde Valley Medical Center, Scottsdale, Phoenix.

Gila County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, 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:

  • Montezuma Castle National Monument40 miles
  • Tonto National Monument42 miles
  • Tuzigoot National Monument58 miles

Read about Star Valley's history on Wikipedia.

Know Star Valley?

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

  • Mesa del Caballo, AZ (unincorporated)944 people, 5 miles
  • Tonto Village, AZ (unincorporated)123 people, 6 miles
  • Round Valley, AZ (unincorporated)631 people, 7 miles
  • Mead Ranch, AZ (unincorporated)218 people, 8 miles
  • East Verde Estates, AZ (unincorporated)275 people, 9 miles
  • Whispering Pines, AZ (unincorporated)151 people, 9 miles
  • Kohls Ranch, AZ (unincorporated)161 people, 9 miles
  • Gisela, AZ (unincorporated)587 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.