5 of the Safest Neighborhoods in Phoenix for Renters (2026)

Updated November 2026 by the Apartment List Renter Editorial Team.

Apartment List's Phoenix safety shortlist names North Gateway, Desert View, Ahwatukee, Deer Valley, and Paradise Valley Village. Apartment List selected and ordered the five from the modeled violent-crime safety grades published by CrimeGrade, accessed in November 2026; higher grades are more favorable. All five also hold a B or better on property crime. That second comparison appears in the table but wasn't a requirement for making the list. The appendix explains how the five were chosen.

The grades describe areas the size of Phoenix's urban villages, so they can't tell you whether a particular apartment, building, or route is safe. Use the shortlist to decide where to start looking, then run the address check below on any apartment you're considering.

How Do the Five Phoenix Areas Compare on Safety?

Higher safety grades are more favorable, and lower modeled rates mean fewer estimated offenses per 1,000 residents in a typical year. Violent crime covers offenses against people, such as assault and robbery; property crime covers burglary, theft, and vehicle theft. Small modeled differences between areas don't establish differences between individual apartments.

Source: CrimeGrade modeled results, accessed November 2026; CrimeGrade doesn't state the year its data covers. Apartment List selected the five on their violent-crime safety grades and ordered them from the most favorable grade down, using the modeled violent-crime rate where grades match. Property-crime results are shown for comparison and didn't affect selection or order.

What Stands Out in the Comparison of Safe Phoenix Neighborhoods?

• North Gateway and Desert View lead this five-area comparison on both measures, with A violent-crime and A+ property-crime safety grades and the two lowest modeled rates in each column.

• Their modeled violent-crime rates, 1.93 and 1.96 per 1,000 residents, are close enough that the difference shouldn't decide an apartment choice between them.

• Paradise Valley Village's B property-crime safety grade is the least favorable within this shortlist. That's a relative result among five areas that all hold a B or better, not a finding that the village is unsafe.

What Does This Safety Shortlist Mean for Your Apartment Search in Phoenix?

The two areas with the strongest results, North Gateway and Desert View, are north Phoenix villages, and settings differ within every village on the list, which the profiles describe.

• Location: Pick the village whose position fits your commute, school, or transit before comparing buildings; the profiles say where each one sits.
• Budget and availability: Compare current listings and use the one-bedroom averages where available.
• Daily routes: Compare the exact apartment with the commute, transit stop, and routes you'd actually use, at the hours you'd use them.

To widen the search beyond these five, the Phoenix search page covers the whole city.

What Is Each Shortlisted Area Like for Renters?

Use the grades to compare broad areas and the rental links to explore specific communities. Where available, Apartment List's one-bedroom averages describe the named search area and change with inventory.

1. North Gateway

Violent-crime safety: A · Property-crime safety: A+

Average listed one-bedroom rent in Tramonto on Apartment List: $1,400/month.

North Gateway is a north Phoenix village along I-17, north of Jomax Road. Its named communities give a search different starting points: Tramonto sits at I-17 and Carefree Highway, and Sonoran Foothills runs along North Valley Parkway. Choose the community whose location fits your commute first, then compare buildings within it. Browse Tramonto apartments, one search option within North Gateway.

2. Desert View

Violent-crime safety: A · Property-crime safety: A+

Average listed one-bedroom rent in Desert Ridge on Apartment List: $1,940/month.

Desert View is a north Phoenix village whose developed core, Desert Ridge, sits along Loop 101 near Tatum Boulevard; communities farther north, such as Tatum Ranch, are lower density. These grades apply to the broader area CrimeGrade calls Desert View. The core and the northern part of the village are different search choices, so settle on one before you compare listings. Browse Desert Ridge apartments, within Desert View.

3. Ahwatukee

Violent-crime safety: A- · Property-crime safety: A

Average listed one-bedroom rent in Ahwatukee on Apartment List: $1,330/month.

Ahwatukee, the City's Ahwatukee Foothills Village, lies south of South Mountain, which separates it from the rest of Phoenix. That separation makes the trip from an address to work, school, or wherever you go most often the thing to test, at the hours you'd travel. Browse Ahwatukee apartments.

4. Deer Valley

Violent-crime safety: B+ · Property-crime safety: B+

Deer Valley is a large north Phoenix village with a mix of housing types, major employment centers, and the Phoenix Deer Valley Airport inside it. Norterra, around Happy Valley Road and I-17, and Stetson Valley, in the village's northwest, are different search locations within it, so decide which part of the village you want before you look at individual buildings. Browse Stetson Valley apartments, within Deer Valley; for Norterra, start from the Phoenix search page and narrow by location.

5. Paradise Valley Village

Violent-crime safety: B+ · Property-crime safety: B

Average listed one-bedroom rent in Kierland on Apartment List: $2,760/month.

Paradise Valley Village is a Phoenix planning area, not the separate Town of Paradise Valley. Kierland, on the village's Scottsdale Road edge near Kierland Commons, is one option within it, not a stand-in for the whole village. Compare a Kierland address with one elsewhere in the village before you settle on a budget. Browse Kierland apartments, within Paradise Valley Village, or search the rest of the village from the Phoenix search page.

Why Aren't Arcadia, Biltmore, and North Central Phoenix Listed?

Comparable separate results weren't established for Arcadia, Arcadia Lite, Biltmore, or North Central, so they aren't on the shortlist. That absence doesn't establish that they're less safe. If one of them is where you want to live, start from Arcadia apartments, Arcadia Lite apartments, Biltmore apartments, or North Central Corridor apartments and run the address check below on any apartment you like.

How Do You Check a Specific Address?

Run these steps for every apartment, whatever its area's grades.

1. Open the Phoenix Police Department's Crime Maps and Stats page and follow its link to the LexisNexis Community Crime Map.

2. Search the address and check the date range the map displays.

3. Compare violent and property offenses separately, and look across several months if the map allows.

4. Walk the route you'd use at the hour you'd use it. Check that entry doors latch, how visitors and packages get in, how the parking area is lit, and who repairs a broken gate or lock.

The City's disclaimer warns that the map data can contain errors and may be incomplete or late. An empty map does not establish that an address is safe; unreported, pending, or out-of-window incidents may not appear.

Which Phoenix Area Should You Start With?

If a favorable violent-crime safety grade is your first filter, start with North Gateway and Desert View, which also lead the shortlist on property crime. The tradeoff is location and rent: both are north Phoenix villages, and Apartment List's listed one-bedroom averages at review were $1,400/month in Tramonto and $1,940/month in Desert Ridge, one search area in each village. If neither location suits you, Ahwatukee, Deer Valley, and Paradise Valley Village all hold a B or better on both measures, so the choice among them comes down to where each sits and what you find in its listings.

Then move from the shortlist to actual apartments: pick two or three addresses and compare rent, commute, building features, and daily routes. Tramonto apartments within North Gateway, Desert Ridge apartments within Desert View, and Ahwatukee apartments are three places to begin, and the Phoenix search page covers the whole city.

Appendix: How Apartment List Chose These Areas

Apartment List applied the criterion and assembled the shortlist. The grades and rates are CrimeGrade's.

FAQs About Phoenix Neighborhood Safety

Which Phoenix Neighborhoods Have the Lowest Crime Rates?

Among the five areas Apartment List compared, North Gateway has the lowest modeled violent-crime rate, 1.93 per 1,000 residents, and the lowest modeled property-crime rate, 7.25 per 1,000 residents. These are CrimeGrade's modeled estimates for a typical year, accessed November 2026, not current-year police counts, and they cover only the five compared areas.

Which Phoenix Neighborhoods Are Safest for Families?

For households weighing both violent and property crime, Apartment List's shortlist points to North Gateway and Desert View as starting areas, with CrimeGrade's A violent-crime and A+ property-crime safety grades. That's a general crime-safety result, not a family-specific ranking. Before choosing, travel the route from the address to the school or childcare you'd use, at the hours you'd use it.

Which Phoenix Neighborhood Is Best for Walking a Dog at Night?

This comparison doesn't identify a best neighborhood for nighttime dog walking; the safety grades don't measure lighting, pavement, or the route from a particular building, so walk your loop at the hour you'd use it. In Phoenix, check the pavement first: Maricopa County advises morning or evening walks and a seven-second back-of-hand test, and an evening hour on its own doesn't mean the pavement has cooled. If you plan to use a park, confirm dog access and posted hours on the City's park page.

Is Desert Ridge Included in This Safety Shortlist?

Yes, as a rental-search option discussed within Desert View. The grades belong to the broader Desert View area, and Desert Ridge has no separate grade in this comparison. Its Apartment List search page is a starting point for that part of the village.

Is Paradise Valley Village the Same as the Town of Paradise Valley or Scottsdale?

No. Paradise Valley Village is a Phoenix planning area. The Town of Paradise Valley and Scottsdale are separate cities, and neither was part of this comparison.