School districts in rural Arizona are deploying a new tool in an effort to address the statewide teacher shortage: They're becoming landlords.
From Prescott to the reservations in Pima County, schools have begun including affordable housing in teachers' contract to help fill classrooms.
Arizona loses double the number of teachers when compared with the national average, according to state and national data. Over 8,600, or about 14%, of Arizona teachers left the profession entirely in the 2024-25 school year — much larger than the national rate of 7.1%.
According to a survey from the Arizona Department of Education in 2026, the largest factor contributing to teachers leaving the profession that school year was wanting or needing a higher salary,
with roughly one in four teachers citing compensation as their reason.
"Working in a rural district is extremely challenging," said Baboquivari Unified School District Superintendent Ruben Diaz. “Not a lot of people, especially young people, want to pack and leave everything behind."
Rural schools have instead found a different way to recruit and retain staff, one that will put more money in teachers' pockets without having to raise salaries.
Superintendent of Prescott Unified School District Clark Tenney said he’s lived in Prescott for 43 years and watched it grow from a family town to a retirement community. It's caused the cost of living in Prescott to skyrocket, particularly housing.
Tenney said the district pays teachers roughly 5 to 6% below the state average. When he served as the district's human resources director, Tenney said some newly hired teachers backed out after realizing how expensive Prescott was.
Data from Zillow, a real-estate marketplace, shows the median listing price for a home in Prescott is over $700,000.
The district, through a partnership with the city, allocated funds to build a total of six two-bedroom housing units for staff. The units are available for $1,000 a month, which Tenney said is roughly half the market rate. Tenants are allowed to stay in the unit for one year, which buys time for new hires to find other housing once the lease ends.
The program, he said, has received positive feedback from teachers, giving them a great start and subsequently encouraging them to stay within the district.
“It's a recruiting tool, but then it also kind of helps with our retention in that we get our top choice candidates and they tend to stay with us,” Tenney said.
Third-grade teacher Rissa Abreu said she found the housing to be a big help during her transition from central Arizona, where the cost of living was cheaper.
“Even regardless of where you were in life, it’s always tough to make a big move, but Prescott has some great kids and they need great teachers," she said. The housing "really makes it more possible for us."
Abreu said affordable housing relieves financial pressures, allowing teachers to devote more attention to their work. Ahead of the school year, a fellow district employee living in the units helped her get ready for her first day.
“She came to help me set up my classroom since I didn't have any family up here anymore,” she said. “So that was amazing to have a little built-in community right here.”
Rural districts adopt similar strategies for teacher retention
The Chino Valley Unified School District in Yavapai County also incorporated teacher housing during a time when finding professionals was an issue. Now, its enrollment has steadied and the district has been able to open its one-bedroom units to certified and classified staff for $650 a month.
Originally intended as a three-year lease, tenants may stay longer depending on their circumstances. Assistant Superintendent of Chino Valley Unified Marty Campitelli said the district can offer one of its 10 units as transitional housing for staff who are relocating or going through a divorce.
Still, gathering funds to build new housing on district property can be challenging.
In Prescott Unified, the district gathered a third of the funds, roughly $500,000, from a federal grant distributed through the Arizona Department of Education to be used exclusively for teacher housing. Another third came from the district's own funds and the last $500,000 came from the city of Prescott in exchange for putting first responders and city personnel in two of the six units for the next 30 years.
In Chino Valley, Campitelli said the district had received grants to build teacher housing, but they also put in a million of their own dollars, which could take the district two decades before they repay their debts. He said the district was able to secure some good teachers in the long run through this initiative, but it's not looking to make any future additions.
The district has also experienced a decline in enrollment, making the need to hire new teachers less of an issue than when the housing was initially built.
“The financial commitment is sometimes hard to look at when we're looking at our budget, especially in slimmer times as now. But ultimately, I'm very proud of the fact that we have this — that we can offer this to a number of employees,” Campitelli said.
In Pima County, Baboquivari Unified has a total of 41 units for its staff with plans to expand further, according to Diaz.
Staff housing starts at $200 a month and goes up to $350. Employees sign a yearly contract that can be renewed and have the option to choose a one-bedroom, two-bedroom or three-bedroom unit.
Diaz said offering housing allows the district to stay competitive by presenting new hires with their salaries compared to their potential savings. Currently, all 41 units are occupied with a handful of staff on the waiting list.
Baboquivari Unified is also looking to expand its housing assistance further by using Impact Aid, funds the school district receives from the federal government for establishing buildings on tax-free land like military bases, low-rent housing and national parks. Because reservations are exempt from taxes, the district earns 10 cents for every dollar the federal government would have paid in taxes, bringing the district roughly $9 million a year.
One of the plans to expand involves purchasing tiny homes from the nearby Globe Unified School District. According to Diaz, after Globe Unified bought the homes and could not get the construction approved, it was willing to sell to Baboquivari Unified for an affordable price.
Another advantage of the housing, Diaz said, is that teachers who participate in the program tend to stay longer. Not only is it a way for the district to recruit and retain teachers, he said, but it brings financial and emotional stability as teachers fall in love with the community.
“Once you have a home, that is the root. You connect with that community, and you stay with that community,” he said.
This article is part of a collaboration project with the Arizona Local News Foundation spanning 13 newsrooms. To see related stories, visit https://azmedia.org/2026/08/10/13-education-solutions-reporters-in-arizona-come-together-for-two-important-education-topics/.
Coverage of education solutions on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is partially supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rural Arizona districts offer housing to attract teachers
