Before you decide to relocate to Arizona, it’s important to research the exact cost of living around the state. And that’s what we’re going to help you do.
These are the places in Arizona that cost a pretty penny — the most expensive cities in the state.
We used Saturday Night Science to compare the 2020-2024 American Community Survey on cost of living for the 55 places in Arizona with more than 5,000 people.
After we saved up for months and could finally afford it, we landed on this list of the ten most expensive cities in Arizona for 2026.
$247,159 median income · $3,474,597 median home · #1 home prices in Arizona
Located in
Maricopa County, Arizona
Paradise Valley is a small, affluent town in Maricopa County, Arizona. The town is known for its luxury golf courses, shopping, and restaurant scene.
It should not be confused with Paradise Valley Village, an official municipal designation, in northeast Phoenix. For instance, Paradise Valley Community College, Paradise Valley High School, Paradise Valley Hospital, Paradise Valley Mall, and Paradise Valley Golf Course are all located several miles to the north of the town, in Phoenix. T
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$110,886 median income · $858,022 median home · #4 home prices in Arizona
Located in
Maricopa County, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, adjacent to the Greater Phoenix Area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after founder Winfield Scott and incorporated in 1951 with a population of 2,000, the 2015 population of the city is estimated to be 236,839 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The New York Times described downtown Scottsdale as “a desert version of Miami’s South Beach” and as having “plenty of late night partying and a buzzing hotel scene.” Its slogan is “The West’s Most Western Town.”
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$73,738 median income · $909,102 median home · #3 home prices in Arizona
Located in
Yavapai County, Arizona
Sedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,031.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$112,654 median income · $670,052 median home · #5 home prices in Arizona
Located in
Maricopa County, Arizona
Fountain Hills is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Known for its impressive fountain, once the tallest in the world, it borders on the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and Scottsdale, Arizona. The population is 22,489, as of the 2010 census. Between the 1990 and 2000 censuses it was the eighth fastest-growing place among cities and towns in Arizona.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$141,978 median income · $632,223 median home · #7 home prices in Arizona
Located in
Pinal County, Arizona
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$122,551 median income · $572,507 median home · #9 home prices in Arizona
Located in
Maricopa County, Arizona
Gilbert is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located southeast of Phoenix, within the Phoenix metropolitan area. Once known as the “Hay Shipping Capital of the World”, Gilbert is currently the most populous incorporated town in the United States. It is the sixth-largest municipality in Arizona, and the fifth-largest in the Metropolitan Phoenix Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$71,512 median income · $656,480 median home · #6 home prices in Arizona
Located in
Coconino County, Arizona
Flagstaff is a city in and the county seat of Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2015, the city’s estimated population was 70,320. Flagstaff’s combined metropolitan area has an estimated population of 139,097. The city is named after a ponderosa pine flagpole made by a scouting party from Boston to celebrate the United States Centennial on July 4, 1876.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$107,067 median income · $1,054,562 median home · #2 home prices in Arizona
Cave Creek is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is 27mi northeast of Phoenix. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town was 5,015.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$126,250 median income · $525,411 median home · #10 home prices in Arizona
Located in
Maricopa County, Arizona
Litchfield Park is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is twenty miles northwest of Phoenix. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 5,476.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$108,095 median income · $524,156 median home · #11 home prices in Arizona
Located in
Maricopa County, Arizona
Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a prominent suburb of the Phoenix, Arizona, Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the south by the Gila River Indian Community, and to the east by Gilbert. As of July 2015, the population was 260,828 according to the United States Census Bureau, According to the city’s official website, Chandler’s Transportation & Development Department estimated the population, as of May 2016, to be 247,328. It also has satellite locations for many technology companies, including Intel and Orbital ATK.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Arizona’s statewide median.
Arizona statewide median: $423,330
Arizona statewide median: $79,964
On the map
Mapping the most expensive places in Arizona
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Most Expensive Places To Live In The Grand Canyon State For 2026
The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford a city in Arizona are how much money you make and how much you have to spend to live there.
You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.
For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing, it’s actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.
With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2020-2024 around incomes and costs. They are:
- Overall Cost Of Living Index
- Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
- Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
- Median Home Price
You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in Arizona to figure out which is the most expensive.
You are left with a “Cost of Living Index” by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.
So we used that cost of living index to rank all of the 55 places in Arizona that have more than 5,000 people.
The place with the highest cost of living in Arizona according to the data is Paradise Valley. We updated this article for 2026. This article is our eleventh time ranking the most expensive places to live in Arizona.
The full plate
Most Expensive Cities In Arizona
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Cost Of Living | Population | Median Income | Average Home Price | Home/Income Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paradise Valley | 301 | 12,611 | $247,159 | $3,474,597 | 14.1x |
| 2 | Scottsdale | 144 | 243,821 | $110,886 | $858,022 | 7.7x |
| 3 | Sedona | 141 | 9,777 | $73,738 | $909,102 | 12.3x |
| 4 | Fountain Hills | 134 | 23,789 | $112,654 | $670,052 | 5.9x |
| 5 | Queen Creek | 132 | 71,867 | $141,978 | $632,223 | 4.5x |
| 6 | Gilbert | 129 | 280,262 | $122,551 | $572,507 | 4.7x |
| 7 | Flagstaff | 128 | 76,445 | $71,512 | $656,480 | 9.2x |
| 8 | Cave Creek | 127 | 5,091 | $107,067 | $1,054,562 | 9.8x |
| 9 | Litchfield Park | 126 | 6,916 | $126,250 | $525,411 | 4.2x |
| 10 | Chandler | 125 | 280,136 | $108,095 | $524,156 | 4.8x |
| 11 | Prescott | 123 | 47,400 | $70,874 | $605,543 | 8.5x |
| 12 | Goodyear | 122 | 107,645 | $103,319 | $469,424 | 4.5x |
| 13 | Oro Valley | 121 | 48,162 | $107,117 | $506,584 | 4.7x |
| 14 | Marana | 118 | 56,938 | $112,606 | $436,915 | 3.9x |
| 15 | Tempe | 117 | 188,065 | $79,663 | $468,281 | 5.9x |
| 16 | Peoria | 116 | 196,906 | $95,815 | $488,596 | 5.1x |
| 17 | Surprise | 114 | 154,948 | $96,711 | $422,473 | 4.4x |
| 18 | Avondale | 113 | 92,477 | $86,123 | $398,568 | 4.6x |
| 19 | Maricopa | 113 | 67,163 | $96,391 | $346,284 | 3.6x |
| 20 | Lake Havasu City | 113 | 58,359 | $70,148 | $463,714 | 6.6x |
| 21 | Mesa | 112 | 511,764 | $82,752 | $435,134 | 5.3x |
| 22 | Chino Valley | 112 | 13,602 | $61,237 | $500,150 | 8.2x |
| 23 | Phoenix | 111 | 1,642,323 | $81,332 | $410,169 | 5.0x |
| 24 | Prescott Valley | 111 | 49,179 | $74,569 | $462,396 | 6.2x |
| 25 | Sahuarita | 111 | 35,862 | $104,680 | $353,394 | 3.4x |
| 26 | Payson | 109 | 16,622 | $67,710 | $446,820 | 6.6x |
| 27 | Glendale | 108 | 252,833 | $73,530 | $407,332 | 5.5x |
| 28 | Wickenburg | 107 | 8,059 | $67,600 | $513,341 | 7.6x |
| 29 | Tolleson | 105 | 7,668 | $59,626 | $394,929 | 6.6x |
| 30 | Page | 105 | 7,345 | $88,826 | $378,791 | 4.3x |
| 31 | El Mirage | 104 | 36,088 | $78,050 | $342,377 | 4.4x |
| 32 | Florence | 104 | 25,570 | $79,644 | $333,593 | 4.2x |
| 33 | Cottonwood | 104 | 12,580 | $48,448 | $397,513 | 8.2x |
| 34 | Tucson | 102 | 547,073 | $57,073 | $324,023 | 5.7x |
| 35 | Sierra Vista | 102 | 45,155 | $70,291 | $298,883 | 4.3x |
| 36 | Camp Verde | 102 | 12,521 | $69,203 | $431,372 | 6.2x |
| 37 | Show Low | 102 | 12,102 | $60,368 | $436,997 | 7.2x |
| 38 | Yuma | 100 | 100,139 | $65,482 | $301,508 | 4.6x |
| 39 | Kingman | 99 | 34,375 | $61,792 | $273,783 | 4.4x |
| 40 | Snowflake | 99 | 6,444 | $76,174 | $344,541 | 4.5x |
| 41 | Thatcher | 99 | 5,439 | $82,917 | $350,905 | 4.2x |
| 42 | Casa Grande | 98 | 60,905 | $69,983 | $319,032 | 4.6x |
| 43 | Somerton | 98 | 14,574 | $74,015 | $271,558 | 3.7x |
| 44 | Globe | 97 | 7,195 | $69,170 | $238,040 | 3.4x |
| 45 | Guadalupe | 97 | 5,272 | $51,354 | $243,844 | 4.7x |
| 46 | Safford | 96 | 10,239 | $65,647 | $287,457 | 4.4x |
| 47 | Bullhead City | 95 | 42,496 | $50,556 | $299,832 | 5.9x |
| 48 | Coolidge | 95 | 16,636 | $67,023 | $270,015 | 4.0x |
| 49 | Apache Junction | 92 | 41,058 | $60,975 | $376,628 | 6.2x |
| 50 | Nogales | 92 | 19,841 | $43,214 | $220,632 | 5.1x |
| 51 | Benson | 92 | 5,417 | $49,346 | $253,542 | 5.1x |
| 52 | San Luis | 91 | 37,337 | $59,400 | $238,911 | 4.0x |
| 53 | Eloy | 91 | 17,433 | $55,736 | $275,410 | 4.9x |
| 54 | Douglas | 88 | 15,981 | $42,019 | $173,569 | 4.1x |
| 55 | Winslow | 88 | 8,773 | $58,346 | $203,634 | 3.5x |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, Zillow research. 55 places with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Taking A Chunk Out Of Your Paycheck In Arizona For 2026
Well, there you have it, the places in Arizona that have the highest cost of living, with Paradise Valley ranking as the most expensive city in the Grand Canyon State.
The most expensive cities in Arizona are Paradise Valley, Scottsdale, Sedona, Fountain Hills, Queen Creek, Gilbert, Flagstaff, Cave Creek, Litchfield Park, and Chandler.
