While big cities like Scottsdale offer culture, cuisine, and charisma, they also deliver terrible traffic, towering expenses, and a taxing quality of life.
With that in mind, we wanted to uncover the best suburbs around Scottsdale. These burbs have all of the benefits of being near Scottsdale without actually having to be in the city.
Of course, not all suburbs of Scottsdale are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. Using Saturday Night Science, we delve into the factors that matter most, from commutes and housing costs to community vibes, to help you uncover the perfect suburban spots in the Greater Scottsdale area.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 best suburbs to live around Scottsdale for 2025:
What’s the best suburb of Scottsdale? Paradise Valley ranks as the best suburb of Scottsdale for 2025 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Paradise Valley, you’re probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We’ll tell you what makes each of these 10 Scottsdale ‘burbs better than the rest–but first, a bit about our methodology.
Feel free to check out some more reading about Arizona:
The 10 Best Scottsdale Suburbs To Live For 2025
/10
Population: 12,621
Median Income: $236,250
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%
Poverty Rate: 5.0%
More on Paradise Valley: Data
Paradise Valley is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Scottsdale area. We’ll tell you the good about “Awesome Paradise Valley.”
Everyone here is rich; families average $236,250 a year, which is the highest in the Scottsdale region. And only 2.49% are out of work. Homes average more than $2,000,001 each.
/10
Population: 271,118
Median Income: $121,351
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 5.1%
More on Gilbert: Data
Gilbert is the second best ‘burb we looked at near Scottsdale for 2025.
It ranks 3rd for incomes in the area and only 5.91% of residents lack insurance, good for 4th best.
Gilbert, Arizona is a fast growing community in the east valley of phoenix. The schools are absolutely amazing especially Gilbert Public Schools. There is very little crime and a ton of out door splash pads and parks.
The number of restaurants grows buy the month! Down town Gilbert has such a fun family friendly vibe with a farmers market every week. Gilbert is appealing to young families because of the safe neighborhoods and the great schools.
3. Carefree, AZ
/10
Population: 3,672
Median Income: $141,331
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Rate: 11.8%
More on Carefree:
Here in Carefree, it’s really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you’ll see in the Scottsdale metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Carefree.
/10
Population: 23,768
Median Income: $104,788
Unemployment Rate: 4.9%
Poverty Rate: 6.5%
More on Fountain Hills: Data
Fountain Hills ranks as the 4th best suburb of Scottsdale for 2025.
You won’t find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Fountain Hills and the schools are some of the best around.
/10
Population: 278,123
Median Income: $103,691
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 7.7%
More on Chandler: Data
Coming in as the fifth best is Chandler.
Chandler gets kudos for having the 6th most expensive homes in the Scottsdale area, where houses sell for an average of $469,800. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
/10
Population: 194,338
Median Income: $93,403
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%
Poverty Rate: 8.4%
More on Peoria: Data
Peoria is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here’s why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 3.46%.
According to online reports, Peoria is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Scottsdale area, meaning you need to get in soon.
It was mainly suburban areas there so not much as far as crime, but being in the big city you always have the chance of something happening.
I really liked going to the outdoor malls and all the wonderful mexican food restaraunts. One restaraunt to look out for is Filibertos mexican food. The bad thing is that it is the suburbs so there isn’t much to do as in activities.
/10
Population: 5,033
Median Income: $102,589
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%
Poverty Rate: 8.9%
More on Cave Creek: Data
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to Cave Creek.
Cave Creek schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it’s only 12.6 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
/10
Population: 507,478
Median Income: $78,779
Unemployment Rate: 4.6%
Poverty Rate: 10.5%
More on Mesa: Data
Mesa is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 11.06% of people lack insurance, good for 9th in the area.
The crime rate in my neighborhood is low. The schools are great. And there are plenty to do. There’s a water park, laser tag, movies, bowling, and an arcade, not to mention libraries and parks.
Water parks and swimming pools are a great way to keep cool.
/10
Population: 186,419
Median Income: $77,643
Unemployment Rate: 5.6%
Poverty Rate: 16.2%
More on Tempe: Data
Is ‘Everything Better In Tempe?’
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it’s really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
I love the night life. There are plenty of bars and night clubs are plentiful.
There is also a few fishing spots I love to cast at.
The college students. There is the Arizona State University in down town.
/10
Population: 5,293
Median Income: $58,507
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%
Poverty Rate: 22.3%
More on Guadalupe: Data
And rounding out the top ten for 2025 is Guadalupe.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It’s far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Scottsdale for 2025
Figuring out the best suburbs around Scottsdale was simple. We used Saturday Night Science to find things people like about living in the suburbs and then locate the suburbs with those things.
We analyzed the newest American Community Survey data for 2019-2023 to research each suburb. We decided upon the following criteria:
- Low unemployment rate
- High median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college-educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Scottsdale.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 3,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 15 suburbs to evaluate around Scottsdale.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 15 in each category, where 1 was the “best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
Finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index, the “Best Suburb near Scottsdale.” We’re lookin’ at you, Paradise Valley.
This result may differ from our state-wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a more extensive selection of suburbs.
We updated the data for 2025. This report is our tenth time ranking the best Scottsdale suburbs. Skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Summary: Welcome to the Best Scottsdale ‘Burbs of 2025
We said it once, and we’ll say it again–life in the big city isn’t for everyone. At least not all the time.
The best suburbs of Scottsdale are .
So if you’re craving the amenities of a larger city like Scottsdale but don’t want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might be for you.
For more Arizona reading, check out:
Table: Best Scottsdale Suburbs
| Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Average Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paradise Valley, AZ | 12,621 | $236,250 | $2,000,001 |
| 2 | Gilbert, AZ | 271,118 | $121,351 | $518,600 |
| 3 | Carefree, AZ | 3,672 | $141,331 | $1,066,600 |
| 4 | Fountain Hills, AZ | 23,768 | $104,788 | $575,200 |
| 5 | Chandler, AZ | 278,123 | $103,691 | $469,800 |
| 6 | Peoria, AZ | 194,338 | $93,403 | $429,400 |
| 7 | Cave Creek, AZ | 5,033 | $102,589 | $791,900 |
| 8 | Mesa, AZ | 507,478 | $78,779 | $364,300 |
| 9 | Tempe, AZ | 186,419 | $77,643 | $421,900 |
| 10 | Guadalupe, AZ | 5,293 | $58,507 | $233,500 |
| 11 | Phoenix, AZ | 1,624,832 | $77,041 | $381,900 |
| 12 | Glendale, AZ | 250,193 | $70,139 | $347,000 |
| 13 | Apache Junction, AZ | 39,746 | $58,619 | $196,700 |
| 14 | El Mirage, AZ | 35,823 | $74,764 | $282,000 |
| 15 | Tolleson, AZ | 7,233 | $55,015 | $287,000 |