Horse property is one of the few things in Tucson you cannot judge from the photos. Two listings can both say “horses allowed” and differ in everything that matters: how many animals the zoning permits, where a corral may go, how far the nearest trailhead is and where the water comes from. This guide starts with what is actually for sale, counted from the live MLS on October 13, 2026, then walks through the zoning rules and the checks worth running before you write an offer.
How many horse properties are for sale
On October 13, 2026 the MLS of Southern Arizona carried 769 on-market listings whose community features include “Horses Allowed” or “Horse Facilities” — 677 active and 92 under contract or pending. They are spread across the region: 352 in Pima County, 240 in Cochise County, 112 in Santa Cruz County, 46 in Pinal County and 19 farther out. In Pima County the 352 split into 195 homes (139 site-built single-family homes and 56 manufactured or mobile homes), 156 parcels of land and one multi-family property.
In the areas we cover
Most of the Tucson area’s horse property sits outside the master-planned communities, so only eight of the 20 areas we track had four or more listings that day. These counts come from our live area pages, which apply each area’s own boundary:
| Area | Horse-property listings |
|---|---|
| Vail | 55 |
| Tanque Verde | 32 |
| Rincon Valley | 31 |
| Tucson Mountains | 29 |
| Catalina Foothills | 9 |
| SaddleBrooke | 7 |
| Marana | 6 |
| Oro Valley | 4 |
The other twelve areas had fewer than four each. Every area in the table has its own live page — for example Vail, Tanque Verde, Rincon Valley and the Tucson Mountains.
By ZIP code
Because so much of it is unincorporated, a ZIP code is often the clearer way to see where horse property clusters. These were the Pima County ZIP codes with the most listings. The city column is the postal city the MLS records, and “Tucson” covers a large part of the unincorporated county.
| ZIP | Postal city | Listings | Homes | Median home asking price | Median home lot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85641 | Vail | 57 | 29 | $660,000 | 2.06 acres |
| 85736 | Tucson | 48 | 8 | $177,450 | 1.07 acres |
| 85749 | Tucson | 31 | 24 | $987,500 | 3.35 acres |
| 85653 | Marana | 29 | 18 | $317,000 | 3.33 acres |
| 85743 | Tucson | 23 | 19 | $579,990 | 1.27 acres |
| 85629 | Sahuarita | 21 | 13 | $389,000 | 4.47 acres |
| 85745 | Tucson | 17 | 11 | $580,000 | 3.03 acres |
| 85739 | Tucson, Catalina | 16 | 9 | $679,000 | 1.02 acres |
The ZIP codes tell different stories. 85736 is mostly land: 40 of its 48 listings were lots, and 21 were in the Diamond Bell Ranch subdivisions, asking $4,900 to $650,000. 85749, on the northeast side, had the most expensive homes on the list — 24 site-built homes at a median of $987,500 on about 3⅓ acres. Our ZIP pages carry the full search for 85749, 85743, 85745 and 85735.
What horse property costs
Across Pima County the 195 homes asked a median of $624,999, on a median lot of 2.5 acres with 2,410 square feet of living space. Site-built single-family homes asked a median of $805,000 on 3.27 acres; manufactured and mobile homes a median of $281,950 on 1.13 acres. The spread is wide — from $75,000 to $10 million — with 63 homes under $400,000, 48 from $400,000 to $700,000, 41 from $700,000 to $1 million and 43 at $1 million or more.
Lot size moves the price more than anything else, and in this data the jump came at about two and a half acres:
| Lot size | Homes | Median asking price | Site-built homes | Their median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 acre | 22 | $502,500 | 17 | $570,000 |
| 1 to 2.5 acres | 75 | $489,000 | 44 | $657,500 |
| 2.5 to 5 acres | 73 | $849,000 | 58 | $949,450 |
| 5 to 10 acres | 9 | $825,000 | 7 | $1,050,000 |
| 10 acres or more | 16 | $1,100,000 | 13 | $1,299,000 |
Land is the other half of the market. The 156 Pima County parcels asked a median of $125,000 for a median 4.4 acres — about $22,800 an acre at the median — with acreage in the Tucson postal area at a median of about $34,100 an acre and around Vail and Sahuarita about $13,300. Building lets you site the barn and arena where the setbacks allow, but budget for a well or a water connection, power and wastewater before you compare a lot with a finished property.
The named communities
Most horse property is not in a subdivision at all: 226 of the 352 Pima County listings were recorded as unsubdivided or with no subdivision name. Among the named ones, Coyote Creek in Vail had the most, with 13 listings, including 8 homes at $835,000 to $1,375,000 on lots of about one to two and a half acres. In ZIP 85749, La Cebadilla Estates had 4 homes at $895,000 to $4,300,000 and Bel Air Ranch Estates 3 homes at $450,000 to $539,000 on about an acre. Redington Ranch and Catalina Foothills Estates had two homes each, at $1,000,000 to $2,350,000 and $2,999,000 to $3,995,000.
Zoning decides how many horses
The MLS flag says horses are allowed; the zoning says how many, and where they can live. Of the 352 Pima County listings, 325 showed one of six zone codes: RH (104), GR-1 (70), SR (66), CR-1 (63), SH (12) and SR-2 (10). That field is typed by the listing agent, and some of those parcels sit inside a city or town with its own code, so confirm the zoning on the parcel itself before you rely on it. In unincorporated Pima County, the code reads:
- RH (Rural Homestead): a minimum site of 180,000 square feet, about 4.1 acres; its permitted uses include “the raising and grazing of livestock and ratites” and a “private stable”, with no number of animals stated in that list
- SR (Suburban Ranch): a minimum lot of 144,000 square feet, about 3.3 acres, with no more than “one head of cattle, horse, sheep, goat, or other animal more than six months of age per ten thousand square feet of lot area”
- SR-2 (Suburban Ranch Estate): a minimum lot of 72,000 square feet, and “a minimum of ten thousand square feet of lot area is required for each livestock animal or ratite”
- GR-1 (Rural Residential): a minimum site of 36,000 square feet, with livestock allowed where “there is no more than one animal per ten thousand square feet”
- SH (Suburban Homestead): allows the SR zone’s uses, so the same one animal per 10,000 square feet, on lots from 36,000 square feet
- CR-1 (Single Residence): “on lots of not less than thirty-six thousand square feet”, no more than one head of cattle or horses per 10,000 square feet of lot area
One animal per 10,000 square feet works out to four on a one-acre lot and fourteen on the SR minimum of 3.3 acres — before the setbacks, which often bind first. In the RH and GR-1 zones a corral must sit fifty feet from the property line, or ten feet with the abutting owner’s written consent. In the SR, SR-2, SH and CR-1 zones the code asks for at least 400 square feet per animal, keeps animals forty feet from a side property line (ten with a recorded agreement), and says that “in no event, shall a corral be closer than fifty feet to any residence or living quarters in an abutting property.” Barns and other animal buildings need 100 feet from the side and rear lines in SR, and 50 feet in SH and CR-1.
Inside Tucson, Oro Valley and Marana
Incorporated places write their own rules. Within Tucson city limits, the Unified Development Code permits general animal production in the SR, SH and RX-1 zones and in RH, and lists none for the R-1, R-2 and R-3 residential zones; its livestock provision reads “No more than two horses or two head of cattle are permitted per each 36,000 square feet of lot area.” In Oro Valley, horses and other large livestock need a lot of at least 144,000 square feet, which may keep up to six such animals in total, or ten from 300,000 square feet; more takes a conditional use permit. Marana allows large livestock in its agricultural and larger rural-residential zones, where “One animal shall be permitted for every 10,000 square feet of lot area,” with animal structures set back 60 feet from all property lines.
Read the zoning before the listing. “Horses allowed” tells you a horse is legal somewhere on the parcel; the code tells you how many, and where the corral can go.
Riding out: trails and trailheads
Pima County says The Loop can be enjoyed “on foot, bikes, skates, and horses,” and asks anyone who meets a horse and rider to slow down or stop and ask before passing. In Tucson Mountain Park the county stages riders at the King Canyon, Richard Genser Starr Pass, San Joaquin and Sarasota trailheads; Sarasota has a two-acre dirt area that “will accommodate at least 12 horse rigs.” On the east side, the Agua Caliente Hill South Trailhead has “parking for 15 vehicles and 4 horse rigs,” and on Oro Valley’s doorstep, Catalina State Park’s equestrian center “provides a staging area for trail riders with plenty of trailer parking.”
Water, and the other checks before you offer
Much rural horse property runs on a private well. The Arizona Department of Water Resources describes an exempt well as one “equipped to pump 35 gallons per minute or less,” typically for domestic use; a larger well is non-exempt, and in an Active Management Area it needs a groundwater right or permit to withdraw water. ADWR’s well records show what is registered on a parcel, and a well’s actual output is worth testing during escrow.
- Confirm the parcel’s zoning and lot area with the county, city or town, and work out the animal count and corral setbacks from the code rather than the listing
- Read the CC&Rs: a subdivision’s own restrictions can be tighter than the zoning
- Find the well in ADWR’s records, and have its output and water quality tested
- Ask whether the existing barns, arenas and corrals were permitted and where they sit against today’s setbacks
- Ask how manure is stored and removed, and check the local rule on it
- Drive the route to the nearest trailhead with a trailer, at the time of day you would ride
Beyond Pima County
Some of the region’s horse property is a longer drive. Cochise County had 240 listings, led by Pearce, St. David, Willcox, Cochise and Benson, with homes at a median of $399,900 on 10 acres and land at about $3,200 an acre. Santa Cruz County had 112, mostly around Tubac, Patagonia, Elgin, Sonoita and Rio Rico, with homes at a median of $724,500 on about nine acres. Pinal County had 46, including 14 with a Marana address and 13 in Oracle.
Our Tucson-wide horse-property search lists every one of these homes and parcels, updated through the day, and the acreage search widens the net to homes on an acre or more. When a few properties stand out, tell us how many horses you plan to keep and how you like to ride, and we will pull the zoning, the well record and the recent sales for each one before you go and see it.
