Yuma County Arizona Real Estate — Complete Hub Guide (May 2026)
Yuma County Arizona Real Estate spans four incorporated communities and a vast stretch of unincorporated desert and farmland, with a blended single-family median in the low $330,000s and a market structure that looks very different from Maricopa or Pima County. This is a federal-payroll, agricultural, and border-trade economy, supported by Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the leafy-vegetable industry that feeds the nation from November through March. Buyers find some of Arizona’s most affordable single-family inventory, retirees find one of the warmest and sunniest winter climates in North America, and sellers benefit from steady federal demand and seasonal-resident turnover that keeps the market from going dormant. This page is the county-wide hub. Drill into the city pages below for hyper-local data on each Yuma County submarket.
May 2026 County Market Snapshot
County Median Price $330K range ▲ +3% YoY blended |
Median Price / Sq Ft $200 to $215 ▲ Mid-single-digit YoY |
Active Listings 1,100 to 1,400 ▲ Deeper inventory |
Days on Market 60 to 120 → Wide range |
Sale-to-List 98% to 99% → Healthy negotiation |
Months of Supply 3 to 5 → Balanced |
Incorporated Cities 4 → Plus rural CDPs |
Market Type Balanced → Negotiation lives |
Yuma County medians are blended across all four incorporated communities plus large rural unincorporated areas, so the headline number is only a starting point. The City of Yuma carries the bulk of resale inventory and tends to track in the low $330,000s for single-family. San Luis runs lower on a price-per-square-foot basis. Wellton and the foothills carry newer-build pockets that pull the high end. Seasonal RV resort and park-model inventory in winter-visitor communities operates on a separate clock entirely. For decisions, you want city-level data. The cards below link directly to each Yuma County city page.
▶What’s My Yuma County Home Worth?◀County Demographics & Geography
Yuma County is the 6th most populated county in Arizona, with an estimated 2026 population in the range of 212,000 to 227,000 depending on source. It is Arizona’s largest majority-Hispanic county and one of the more demographically distinct counties in the state. Population grows by approximately 90,000 each winter as snowbirds arrive from the upper Midwest, the Pacific Northwest, and western Canada, which materially shifts rental demand, restaurant capacity, and seasonal-home transaction volume from November through April.
Yuma County At a Glance
Federal stability, agricultural depth, border-trade gateway, and Arizona’s sunniest winters.
Geographically, the county sits at the southwest corner of Arizona, bordered by California (Imperial County) to the west across the Colorado River, by Mexico (Sonora and Baja California) to the south, by La Paz County to the north, and by Maricopa and Pima Counties to the east. The county seat is the City of Yuma, located at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. Elevation ranges from sea level near the Colorado River outlet (the lowest point in Arizona) up to roughly 3,000 feet in the Gila and Tule Mountains. The Colorado River corridor defines the western and northern edges, while the I-8 freeway cuts across the county east-west and connects Yuma to San Diego and Phoenix.
Yuma County Economic Drivers
Yuma County’s economy rests on four pillars that operate independently of the broader Phoenix and Tucson metro cycles: federal military spending, U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations, winter-vegetable agriculture, and seasonal tourism. That structural diversity is the reason the county weathers national real estate cycles better than most rural Arizona markets.
Top employers across Yuma County
Two major military installations anchor the federal payroll base. Marine Corps Air Station Yuma supports more than 10,000 personnel and serves as the primary West Coast Marine aviation training and test base, including the twice-yearly Weapons and Tactics Instructor course that brings thousands of additional Marines into the region. U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground covers more than 1,300 square miles of restricted desert testing range and hosts defense contractors, NASA test programs, and the Military Free Fall School. Together these two installations generate billions in regional economic impact and provide the kind of stable, off-cycle housing demand that insulates Yuma County from national downturns.
Agriculture is the county’s other economic backbone. Yuma supplies the majority of the leafy greens consumed in the United States and Canada from November through March, supported by senior Colorado River water rights, year-round growing conditions, and a workforce that scales seasonally with the harvest. The Greater Yuma region also operates Foreign Trade Zone #219 and is positioned as a logistics gateway between California, Mexico, and the U.S. interior via I-8 and the San Luis ports of entry.
Cities in Yuma County
Yuma County contains four incorporated communities, each with its own market profile, employment base, and housing inventory. The City of Yuma carries the bulk of resale and new-construction activity. San Luis is the binational border city and the fastest-growing community in the county. Somerton serves the agricultural workforce. Wellton is a small town along I-8 with steady retirement and snowbird demand. Click into each city for a full market report with current data.
🏞️ Yuma, AZ
The county seat and economic anchor. Population around 106,000. Single-family inventory across central Yuma, the east-side newer-build corridor, and the Yuma Foothills. Largest resale pool in the county.
BORDER CITY🌎 San Luis, AZ
The county’s binational border city with Mexico and the fastest-growing Yuma County community. Population around 35,000. Strong workforce-housing demand and cross-border commuter base.
AG ANCHOR🌾 Somerton, AZ
Heart of the winter-vegetable agricultural corridor between Yuma and San Luis. Population around 16,500. Tight-knit Hispanic-majority community with growing service-sector employment.
I-8 CORRIDOR☀️ Wellton, AZ
I-8 corridor town east of Yuma with quiet small-town feel, snowbird presence, and date-grove agricultural roots. Population around 3,000. Lower price points than the City of Yuma proper.
Unincorporated Yuma County also includes Dateland, Tacna, Roll, and the broad rural desert tracts that surround the Colorado River, Gila River, and Mohawk Valley. Snowbird and RV resort communities exist throughout the foothills and along I-8.
Top School Districts in Yuma County
Per the official Arizona Department of Education FY25 A-F Letter Grades released April 15, 2026, Yuma County is served by 13 LEAs (school districts and charter networks). One earned an A grade at the district level. Six earned a B grade, including the county’s largest district by enrollment. The district-level grades below come directly from the ADE FY25 LEA Letter Grades file. Individual school grades that follow are pulled from the same ADE FY25 release.
Harvest Power Community Development Group… A-Rated District
Harvest Power Community Development Group is the only LEA in Yuma County to earn an A letter grade in the FY25 ADE release. It operates two campuses, including Harvest Preparatory Academy in San Luis, which earned a B grade with 83.61 total points in the K-8 file. The A-grade district designation reflects strong composite performance across proficiency, growth, and English-language proficiency metrics.
Yuma Union High School District… B-Rated District (8 Schools)
Yuma Union is the largest high school district in the county, serving all four incorporated communities. Two of its eight schools earned an A letter grade in the FY25 release: San Luis High School (78.09 points earned) and Gila Ridge High School (78.06 points earned). Cibola, Kofa, and Yuma High Schools all earned B grades, with Antelope Union High School (a separate district) earning a C grade.
H L Suverkrup Elementary School
Per ADE FY25 official data, H L Suverkrup Elementary earned an A letter grade with 87.38 total points earned, the highest score of any K-8 school in Yuma County for the FY25 release.
ADE FY25 A 87.38 PTS CRANEGowan Science Academy
Per ADE FY25 official data, Gowan Science Academy earned an A letter grade with 87.35 total points earned, second-highest K-8 score in the county for FY25.
ADE FY25 A 87.35 PTS STEM FOCUSDesert Sonora Elementary School
Per ADE FY25 official data, Desert Sonora earned an A letter grade with 87.31 total points earned, the highest score of any Somerton-area elementary school in the FY25 release.
ADE FY25 A 87.31 PTS SOMERTONRio Colorado Elementary School
Per ADE FY25 official data, Rio Colorado earned an A letter grade with 85.45 total points earned, the highest K-8 score in the Gadsden Elementary District serving the San Luis corridor.
ADE FY25 A 85.45 PTS GADSDENSan Luis High School
Per ADE FY25 official data, San Luis High School earned an A letter grade with 78.09 total points earned, tied for the highest 9-12 score in Yuma County for the FY25 release.
ADE FY25 A 78.09 PTS YUMA UNIONGila Ridge High School
Per ADE FY25 official data, Gila Ridge earned an A letter grade with 78.06 total points earned, the second-highest 9-12 score in Yuma County for the FY25 release.
ADE FY25 A 78.06 PTS YUMA UNIONBelow the A-graded schools above, Yuma County’s largest LEAs all earned B grades at the district level in FY25: Crane Elementary District (11 schools), Gadsden Elementary District (10 schools), Somerton Elementary District (7 schools), Yuma Union High School District (8 schools), Wellton Elementary District (1 school), and several smaller districts. The Yuma Elementary District (19 schools, the largest by school count) earned a C grade, with strong individual schools such as James D Price School earning an A despite the district composite.
Source note: All letter grades on this page reflect the official Arizona Department of Education FY25 A-F release (April 15, 2026), the most current state-issued data available. Third-party aggregators (Niche, GreatSchools, SchoolGrade) are secondary references only and do not override official ADE grades.
Climate & Lifestyle
Yuma is officially the sunniest city in the United States and one of the sunniest places on Earth, averaging 308 days of full sunshine annually. The county sits in the low Sonoran Desert at elevations near sea level, which means summer highs routinely run above 105 degrees from June through September, and winter highs in the 70s and 80s from November through March. Annual rainfall is among the lowest in the country at roughly three inches. Humidity stays low year-round, which makes summer heat more tolerable than the same temperatures in Houston or Tampa.
The lifestyle reflects the climate. Snowbirds and full-time retirees drive winter activity at golf courses, RV resorts, riverfront parks, and the historic Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. The Colorado River corridor supports boating, fishing, and birding. The Gila Mountains and Tule Mountains offer desert hiking. Cross-border shopping in Mexico (Algodones for dental and pharmacy tourism, San Luis Rio Colorado for groceries and entertainment) is a routine part of life. The University of Arizona’s Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture (YCEDA) and Arizona Western College support the local higher-education base.
May 2026… Yuma County Buyer & Seller Takeaways
- Buyers: Yuma County remains one of the most affordable single-family markets in Arizona with a blended median in the low $330,000s. Inventory is deeper than it has been in years, giving buyers real comparison ability across city, age, lot size, and HOA structure.
- Sellers: Lazy pricing gets exposed quickly when buyers have 1,100-plus active listings to scan. Homes that are clean, realistically priced, and marketed well still move at or near asking. Underpriced or overpriced homes both sit.
- Snowbirds: Seasonal home and RV resort park-model inventory has the deepest winter-visitor selection in Arizona outside of Mesa and the Phoenix West Valley. Lock-in window for the November-to-April season is May through August.
- Military families: MCAS Yuma and Yuma Proving Ground assignments come with stable BAH and a rental-to-purchase pathway that works well in Yuma’s price range. Foothills and east-side new construction draw heavy military demand.
- Investors: Workforce housing in San Luis and Somerton continues to absorb agricultural and cross-border commuter demand. Cap rates trade meaningfully wider than Phoenix metro on comparable product.
- Retirees: Full-time retirement buyers benefit from one of the lowest cost-of-living profiles in Arizona, combined with hospital access, year-round sunshine, and proximity to Mexican border services.
Why Yuma County Real Estate Matters in 2026
Yuma County is one of the few Arizona counties where the underlying demand drivers are almost entirely uncorrelated with the Phoenix and Tucson metro cycles. That is unusual, and it is the reason this market has stayed remarkably stable through national interest-rate shocks.
Key drivers supporting Yuma County Arizona Real Estate include:
- MCAS Yuma military payroll… 10,000-plus active duty Marines and civilian support staff anchor the housing demand floor.
- U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground… defense testing on 1,300-plus square miles of restricted range supports contractor housing demand year-round.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection… federal border-ops payroll across San Luis and Yuma is structurally growing, not shrinking.
- Winter-vegetable agriculture… Yuma supplies most U.S. leafy greens from November to March, supported by senior Colorado River water rights.
- Snowbird inflow… approximately 90,000 seasonal residents arrive each winter, supporting service-sector employment and seasonal housing.
- Lowest cost of living in metro Arizona… median household income clears the median home payment in a way Phoenix metro can no longer match.
- Border-trade gateway… San Luis ports of entry handle billions in annual cross-border commerce; Foreign Trade Zone #219 supports logistics expansion.
- Senior Colorado River water rights… unlike many Sun Belt markets, Yuma’s water position is among the most secure in the desert Southwest.
- 308 days of sunshine per year… the sunniest city in America by NOAA measurement, a permanent draw for retirees and remote workers.
- I-8 connectivity… a single-day drive to San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas, or the California Central Valley, anchoring Yuma’s logistics position.
None of this is speculation. This is a market where federal payroll, agricultural cash flow, border-trade volume, and winter-visitor demand layer on top of each other, creating durability rather than froth. Yuma County is a long-term demand market, not a momentum trade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yuma County’s blended single-family median sits in the low $330,000s as of May 2026, with city-level variation from the entry-tier $200,000s in Somerton and Wellton up through the high $300,000s and $400,000s in newer Yuma Foothills and east-side Yuma neighborhoods. Drill into individual city pages for hyper-local data.
Yuma County contains four incorporated communities: the City of Yuma (county seat, population around 106,000), the City of San Luis (population around 35,000) on the Mexico border, the City of Somerton, and the Town of Wellton. The unincorporated portions of the county include Dateland, Tacna, and Roll.
Yuma County’s 2026 projected population is approximately 212,000 to 227,000 depending on the source, making it the 6th most populated of Arizona’s 15 counties. Winter visitors add roughly 90,000 seasonal residents from November through April, which materially shifts the rental and seasonal-home demand picture.
Per the official Arizona Department of Education FY25 A-F Letter Grades released April 15, 2026, Harvest Power Community Development Group earned the only A grade at the LEA level. Five additional districts earned B grades: Yuma Union High School District (8 schools), Crane Elementary District (11 schools), Gadsden Elementary District (10 schools), Somerton Elementary District (7 schools), and Wellton Elementary District.
The top employers in Yuma County are Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (10,000+ personnel), U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground, Yuma Regional Medical Center, Yuma Union High School District, Yuma County government, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Arizona Western College, and large agricultural producers in the winter-vegetable industry.
Yuma County sits in the low Sonoran Desert at the southwest corner of Arizona, with summer highs routinely above 105 degrees and winter lows in the 40s. The region averages 308 days of sunshine annually, one of the sunniest places on Earth, with negligible rainfall and low humidity. Elevation across the county ranges from sea level at the Colorado River outlet to roughly 3,000 feet in the Gila Mountains.
Yuma County is one of the largest snowbird destinations in the United States, with an estimated 90,000 winter visitors arriving each November through April. The combination of warm winters, 308 sunny days a year, affordable seasonal housing, RV resort inventory, and proximity to Mexico for cross-border shopping makes it especially popular with retirees from the upper Midwest and western Canada.
Yuma County offers some of the most affordable housing in Arizona, anchored by stable federal military spending, U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations, a leading winter agricultural economy, and a year-round sun belt climate that attracts both snowbirds and permanent retirees. The combination of low cost of living, federal payroll stability, and border-trade growth makes it a durable demand market.
Get Personalized Yuma County Arizona Real Estate Data
Whether you’re buying, selling, relocating for the military, or researching seasonal-home options, send us a note. We’ll respond personally… and connect you with a dedicated full-time agent who specializes in the specific Yuma County submarket you care about.
Resources
Counties Bordering Yuma County, Arizona
Yuma County sits at the southwest corner of Arizona. To the north is La Paz County along the Colorado River. To the east are Maricopa County and Pima County. Buyers and relocating households often compare Yuma County against these neighboring Arizona county markets before deciding. Use the cards below to drill into each.
Explore All 15 Arizona Counties
Yuma County is one of 15 counties in Arizona. The top-level county hub indexes every county page with verified URLs, market snapshots, and city inventory.
▶All 15 Arizona Counties Hub◀Yuma County Business & Commercial Real Estate
Yuma County commercial real estate is driven by federal payroll, agricultural processing, border-trade logistics, and winter-tourism retail. Industrial demand has expanded with Foreign Trade Zone #219 activation. Office demand is anchored by healthcare, government, and education. Retail demand reflects the seasonal swing between year-round residents and the 90,000-strong winter-visitor population.
For commercial transactions and business sales, you need specialists… not residential agents handling commercial deals on the side. Here’s what’s actually moving in this market right now:
Office Lease Rates $14 to $22 → Annual NNN range |
Retail Lease Rates $15 to $28 → Annual NNN range |
Industrial Lease $8 to $14 → FTZ #219 pipeline |
Cap Rates Trading 6.5% to 8.5% → Recent sales |
Active Listings Lease + sale mixed ▲ Steady supply |
Total Inventory Across all types → Office, retail, industrial |
For Sale Range $500K to $10M+ → Mixed product |
Anchor Asset FTZ #219 → Foreign Trade Zone |
Buying or Selling a Yuma County Business?
Thinking about buying or selling a Yuma County business… with or without the real estate? Whether it is a winter-vegetable processing operation, a snowbird-economy retail business, a date or citrus producer, a cross-border logistics company, or a service business, we have dedicated full-time business brokers who specialize in Arizona business transactions and know how to value, market, and close Yuma County businesses at maximum value… with complete confidentiality from first conversation through closing day.
▶Talk to a Business Broker◀Buying or Selling a Yuma County Commercial Building?
Thinking about acquiring or selling a Yuma County commercial building? Whether retail along 16th Street, industrial inside Foreign Trade Zone #219, agricultural processing facilities, medical office adjacent to Yuma Regional Medical Center, or hospitality product tied to the snowbird season, we have dedicated full-time commercial real estate agents who cover this entire submarket. Don’t trust commercial property to a residential agent who handles it occasionally.
▶Talk to a Commercial Agent◀
Buying a Business, Fix & Flip, or Commercial Building in Yuma County?
Visit 75BizLoans.com for fast, competitive financing on business acquisitions, commercial real estate, and investment properties in Yuma County… from $100,000 to $50 million. Whether you’re acquiring a Yuma agricultural operation, financing a fix-and-flip investment in San Luis, BRRR strategy in Somerton, multi-family workforce housing, or purchasing a commercial property along the I-8 corridor, 75BizLoans.com offers nationwide commercial lending with fast approvals and terms that actually close deals.
▶Get Funded at 75BizLoans.com◀Methodology & Sources
Coverage area: Yuma County Arizona Real Estate across all four incorporated communities (Yuma, San Luis, Somerton, Wellton) plus the unincorporated balance of the county.
Data sources: County and city-level closed-sale and active-listing data is compiled from local sales records and verified across multiple area data sources before publication. Population data is drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau Annual Estimates of the Resident Population and the American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Demographics and economic data come from Yuma County government, Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation, and the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce. School ratings come from the Arizona Department of Education FY25 A-F Letter Grades file released April 15, 2026, with Niche, GreatSchools, and SchoolGrade used as secondary references only.
Update cadence: This county hub page is rebuilt the moment new monthly data is released, typically between the 7th and the 10th. Reported county-level figures reflect the most recent complete monthly cut available at publication. City-level data is maintained on the individual city pages linked above. Figures presented as ranges reflect normal mid-month variation across data sources, so you always see realistic numbers… not cherry-picked ones.
Author: Compiled by Arizona Homes and Condos Realty. We intentionally do not list properties on this site… Arizona’s market changes too fast for static listing pages to remain accurate.
Here is what actually happens when you reach out. If you are a buyer, a dedicated full-time agent who specializes in your exact target Yuma County city starts working on your behalf immediately… researching both on-market AND off-market opportunities. Today’s real estate moves so quickly that many of the best properties never reach the national websites at all. You need someone with local relationships pulling for you.
If you are a seller, a local dedicated full-time listing agent reaches out personally to discuss your goals, your timeline, and the details of your Yuma County property… so we can position you for the strongest possible outcome.
Last updated: May 11, 2026.