Rio Rico ("rich river") is a planned community located in Santa Cruz County, 57 miles south of Tucson and 12 miles north of Mexico.  The community's 39,000 acres roll gently down the the Santa Rita Mountains through the San Cayetano Foothills westward to the Santa Cruz River.

The area around and including Rio Rico was once part of the Baca Float, a tract of approximately 100,000 acres granted by the U.S. Congress to the heirs of Luis Maria Baca as the results of an early, unclear grant from the Spanish government.  The community had its beginning in 1969 and has continued to grow at a steady pace with the influx of tenants to the Rio Rico South Industrial Park.

Rio Rico offers a broad range of community facilities including a park, a recreation center, children's playground, riding stables, one swimming pool, one 18 hole golf course, a little league baseball park, and several basketball, tennis, shuffleboard and racquetball courts.  The Rio Rico Shopping Plaza has a supermarket, two restaurants, a video store, flower and gift shop travel agency, insurance center, and a beauty salon.  Rio Rico also has a new Senior Citizens Center.