Suppose real estate is the most significant investment a majority of people make in their lifetime. In that case, it’s best to understand the places in Arizona with best potential return on investment.
After working in real estate adjacent roles for over a decade, I had the hypothesis that the best place to buy for a return on investment would be up-and-coming cities. Smaller cities where crime might be high now, but people still move to.
To test my hypothesis, we are going to look at places in Arizona that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average, and crime rates are higher than average.
In everyday terms, these might be “deals”. The best deal in Arizona at the moment according to Saturday Night Science? That would be Benson.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Best Places To Buy A Home In Arizona For 2026
The methodology that wen’t into this can be a bit complicated, so we’ll break it down for you in as much detail as we can below.
For more Arizona reading:
- Best Counties To Live In Arizona
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Arizona
- Best Places To Retire In Arizona
The 10 Best Cities To Buy A House In Arizona For 2026
/10
Population: 5,417
Median Home Price: $253,541
Population Change: 1.6%
Home Price Change: 2.0%
More on Benson: Data | Movers
/10
Population: 5,439
Median Home Price: $350,904
Population Change: 1.6%
Home Price Change: 2.7%
More on Thatcher: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 5,091
Median Home Price: $1,054,561
Population Change: 1.2%
Home Price Change: 2.7%
More on Cave Creek: Data | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 6,444
Median Home Price: $344,540
Population Change: 1.5%
Home Price Change: 1.9%
More on Snowflake: Data | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 6,916
Median Home Price: $525,410
Population Change: 0.7%
Home Price Change: -0.1%
More on Litchfield Park: Data | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 5,272
Median Home Price: $243,844
Population Change: -0.4%
Home Price Change: -3.3%
More on Guadalupe: Data | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 7,015
Median Home Price: $343,385
Population Change: 0.4%
Home Price Change: 3.1%
More on Youn: Data | Movers
/10
Population: 7,668
Median Home Price: $394,929
Population Change: 6.0%
Home Price Change: 0.2%
More on Tolleson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 7,195
Median Home Price: $238,040
Population Change: -0.5%
Home Price Change: 2.7%
More on Globe: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
/10
Population: 7,345
Median Home Price: $378,791
Population Change: -0.8%
Home Price Change: 1.4%
More on Page: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Arizona for 2026?
We were in real estate for almost five years and have worked on this site for another 11. Suffice it to say we’ve put a lot of thought into finding an excellent place to buy a home.
So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we’d approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Arizona. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Arizona with undervalued homes relative to pent-up demand using Saturday Night Science.
To do that, we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2020-2024 and compared it to the previous vintage. Specifically, we used the following criteria:
- Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
- Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
- Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It’s still kinda cheap)
We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still “cheap” for Arizona with the following caveats:
- Home prices had to be within 20% of the state average (Much lower than that, and you get to some of the more dangerous places)
- Home prices increased in the last year, and
- Above 5,000 people (Bigger cities have more data points)
So of the 0 cities and towns in Arizona, only 56 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.
We then ranked each place from 1 to 56 for the above criteria, with 1 being the best. We averaged the rankings to create a “best place to buy” index, with the place having the lowest index being the best.
Turns out that Benson is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Grand Canyon State.
Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Arizona for 2026
There’s our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Arizona. And, to be clear, we aren’t necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.
In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 0 places in the state.
The best cities to buy a house in Arizona are Benson, Thatcher, Cave Creek, Snowflake, Litchfield Park, Guadalupe, Youn, Tolleson, Globe, and Page.
So if we’d could rent or buy in these cities, we’d definitely buy.
For more Arizona reading, check out:
Best Places To Buy A Home In Arizona
| Rank | City | Population | Median Home Price | Population Change | Home Price Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benson | 5,417 | $253,541 | 1.6% | 2.0% |
| 2 | Thatcher | 5,439 | $350,904 | 1.6% | 2.7% |
| 3 | Cave Creek | 5,091 | $1,054,561 | 1.2% | 2.7% |
| 4 | Snowflake | 6,444 | $344,540 | 1.5% | 1.9% |
| 5 | Litchfield Park | 6,916 | $525,410 | 0.7% | -0.1% |
| 6 | Guadalupe | 5,272 | $243,844 | -0.4% | -3.3% |
| 7 | Youn | 7,015 | $343,385 | 0.4% | 3.1% |
| 8 | Tolleson | 7,668 | $394,929 | 6.0% | 0.2% |
| 9 | Globe | 7,195 | $238,040 | -0.5% | 2.7% |
| 10 | Page | 7,345 | $378,791 | -0.8% | 1.4% |
| 11 | Wickenburg | 8,059 | $513,341 | 7.9% | -2.0% |
| 12 | Winslow | 8,773 | $203,633 | -0.7% | 1.3% |
| 13 | Safford | 10,239 | $287,457 | 0.2% | 2.9% |
| 14 | Sedona | 9,777 | $909,102 | 0.1% | 1.9% |
| 15 | Camp Verde | 12,521 | $431,371 | 1.9% | 1.6% |
| 16 | Show Low | 12,102 | $436,997 | 1.6% | 0.2% |
| 17 | Chino Valley | 13,602 | $500,150 | 1.7% | 0.9% |
| 18 | Cottonwood | 12,580 | $397,513 | 0.3% | 1.2% |
| 19 | Coolidge | 16,636 | $270,014 | 8.7% | -0.8% |
| 20 | Paradise Valley | 12,611 | $3,474,596 | -0.1% | 8.2% |
| 21 | Payson | 16,622 | $446,819 | 0.8% | -0.3% |
| 22 | Douglas | 15,981 | $173,569 | -0.8% | 0.3% |
| 23 | Somerton | 14,574 | $271,557 | 1.3% | 2.5% |
| 24 | Eloy | 17,433 | $275,409 | 4.6% | 2.1% |
| 25 | Nogales | 19,841 | $220,631 | 0.4% | 2.4% |
| 26 | Fountain Hills | 23,789 | $670,052 | 0.1% | 1.2% |
| 27 | Florence | 25,570 | $333,592 | -1.5% | -0.7% |
| 28 | Kingman | 34,375 | $273,782 | 1.6% | 0.4% |
| 29 | Sahuarita | 35,862 | $353,394 | 2.4% | -1.1% |
| 30 | San Luis | 37,337 | $238,910 | 3.7% | 1.7% |
| 31 | El Mirage | 36,088 | $342,377 | 0.7% | -0.6% |
| 32 | Bullhead City | 42,496 | $299,831 | 0.7% | -0.2% |
| 33 | Apache Junction | 41,058 | $376,627 | 3.3% | 2.0% |
| 34 | Prescott | 47,400 | $605,543 | 1.4% | 1.1% |
| 35 | Sierra Vista | 45,155 | $298,883 | -0.1% | -0.4% |
| 36 | Oro Valley | 48,162 | $506,583 | 1.2% | 0.3% |
| 37 | Prescott Valley | 49,179 | $462,396 | 2.4% | 1.6% |
| 38 | Marana | 56,938 | $436,914 | 4.5% | 0.0% |
| 39 | Maricopa | 67,163 | $346,283 | 6.6% | -1.5% |
| 40 | Queen Creek | 71,867 | $632,223 | 8.3% | -0.3% |
| 41 | Lake Havasu City | 58,359 | $463,713 | 0.6% | 0.5% |
| 42 | Casa Grande | 60,905 | $319,031 | 5.8% | -0.2% |
| 43 | Flagstaff | 76,445 | $656,480 | 0.1% | 0.5% |
| 44 | Goodyear | 107,645 | $469,424 | 4.6% | -0.4% |
| 45 | Avondale | 92,477 | $398,567 | 2.0% | 0.0% |
| 46 | Yuma | 100,139 | $301,507 | 1.7% | 2.5% |
| 47 | Surprise | 154,948 | $422,473 | 3.6% | -0.1% |
| 48 | Peoria | 196,906 | $488,595 | 1.3% | 0.8% |
| 49 | Tempe | 188,065 | $468,281 | 0.9% | 0.5% |
| 50 | Gilbert | 280,262 | $572,507 | 3.4% | 0.5% |
| 51 | Glendale | 252,833 | $407,332 | 1.1% | 0.6% |
| 52 | Scottsdale | 243,821 | $858,022 | 0.7% | 2.7% |
| 53 | Chandler | 280,136 | $524,155 | 0.7% | 0.3% |
| 54 | Mesa | 511,764 | $435,133 | 0.8% | 0.6% |
| 55 | Tucson | 547,073 | $324,023 | 0.7% | -0.2% |
| 56 | Phoenix | 1,642,323 | $410,168 | 1.1% | 0.6% |