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Money really does grow on cacti in Arizona's richest places. However, we don't want you to get 'stuck' trying to figure out where Arizona's wealthiest live on your own, so HomeSnacks' made a list of the top ten richest places in The Grand Canyon State for 2021 and listed them below.
To help you make sense of our list, here's a little insight into how we determined Arizona's most affluent places. This part was easy: we just had to look at things well-to-do people find important: money and jobs. And with fancy, rich city names like Paradise Valley and Fountain Hills, most would think that they would have to earn a cool million/year to make ends meet in the top ten. While that's not the case, you're going to have to bring in at least $80,525/year to live in Arizona's richest places.
We were not surprised, however, to find that Arizona is one of the fastest growing states or one of the best states to retire in the country with the consistent influx of snowbirds and retirees. But, we were surprised that the state is not one of the top ten richest states in America considering you need a high paying job and a bank account to match if you want to live in one of the state's richest places.
Want to know more? Grab some sunscreen, head to the Salt River in Phoenix, and read on.
Here are the 10 richest places in Arizona for 2021:
To narrow down the top ten richest cities in Arizona we had to determine how many cities should be considered based on population and the latest Census from the American Survey. This left us with 58 Arizona cities with more than 5,000 residents.
So, what is the richest place in Arizona? That would be Paradise Valley based on the most recent data.
To see a list of the other super wealthy Arizona places take a look below. And if you want to know how the bottom one percent in Arizona are managing, click here.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about Arizona:
The 10 Richest Cities In Arizona For 2021
1. Paradise Valley
/10
Population: 14,362
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $211,393
Unemployment Rate: 2.1%
Poverty Rate: 3.6%
More on Paradise Valley: Real Estate | Photos
2. Queen Creek
/10
Population: 43,129
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $105,729
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%
Poverty Rate: 4.7%
More on Queen Creek: Real Estate | Photos
3. Fountain Hills
/10
Population: 24,729
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Median Income: $85,200
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%
Poverty Rate: 4.6%
More on Fountain Hills: Real Estate | Photos
4. Scottsdale
/10
Population: 250,602
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $88,213
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 7.6%
More on Scottsdale: Real Estate | Photos
5. Gilbert
/10
Population: 243,254
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 2)
Median Income: $96,857
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%
Poverty Rate: 5.3%
More on Gilbert: Real Estate | Photos
6. Marana
/10
Population: 45,279
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 1)
Median Income: $85,812
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Rate: 6.3%
More on Marana: Real Estate | Photos
7. Sahuarita
/10
Population: 29,905
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $80,525
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 6.9%
More on Sahuarita: Real Estate | Photos
8. Chandler
/10
Population: 252,692
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Median Income: $82,925
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%
Poverty Rate: 7.6%
More on Chandler: Real Estate | Photos
9. Goodyear
/10
Population: 80,371
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 1)
Median Income: $83,866
Unemployment Rate: 4.5%
Poverty Rate: 8.0%
More on Goodyear: Real Estate | Photos
10. Litchfield Park
/10
Population: 6,073
Rank Last Year: 10 (No Change)
Median Income: $83,156
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Rate: 8.8%
More on Litchfield Park: Real Estate | Photos
How We Determined The Richest Places In Arizona For 2021
The first thing that comes to most people's minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.
However, we don't believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the "richest places". So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2015-2019 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
- Unemployment Rate
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.
After we collected the data for all 58 places with more than 5,000 people in Arizona, we ranked each place from 1 to 58 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a "Rich Score" with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Paradise Valley, crowned the "Richest City In Arizona For 2021". You can download the data here.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 58 places.
There You Have It - The Wealthiest Places In Arizona For 2021
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in Arizona, we weren't sure what we'd encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Arizona.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you're curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Arizona, according to data:
Poorest: South Tucson
2nd Poorest: Douglas
3rd Poorest: San Luis
For more Arizona reading, check out:
- Cheapest Places To Live In Arizona
- Worst Places To Live In Arizona
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Arizona
Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Arizona
| Rank | City | RichScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paradise Valley | 1.33 |
| 2 | Queen Creek | 3.67 |
| 3 | Fountain Hills | 5.33 |
| 4 | Scottsdale | 6.0 |
| 5 | Gilbert | 6.33 |
| 6 | Marana | 8.33 |
| 7 | Sahuarita | 8.67 |
| 8 | Chandler | 10.0 |
| 9 | Goodyear | 11.33 |
| 10 | Litchfield Park | 12.33 |
| 11 | Maricopa | 13.0 |
| 12 | Oro Valley | 13.67 |
| 13 | Peoria | 14.33 |
| 14 | Cave Creek | 16.67 |
| 15 | Surprise | 17.67 |
| 16 | Wickenburg | 20.33 |
| 17 | Chino Valley | 21.0 |
| 18 | Payson | 22.0 |
| 19 | Sedona | 22.0 |
| 20 | Mesa | 23.0 |
| 21 | Avondale | 24.0 |
| 22 | El Mirage | 25.67 |
| 23 | Cottonwood | 25.67 |
| 24 | Lake Havasu City | 26.0 |
| 25 | Prescott | 26.0 |
| 26 | Sierra Vista | 26.33 |
| 27 | Phoenix | 28.33 |
| 28 | Tempe | 28.67 |
| 29 | Thatcher | 29.33 |
| 30 | Tolleson | 30.33 |
| 31 | Page | 30.67 |
| 32 | Glendale | 31.0 |
| 33 | Prescott Valley | 31.0 |
| 34 | Globe | 31.67 |
| 35 | Safford | 32.0 |
| 36 | Casa Grande | 33.0 |
| 37 | Flagstaff | 33.0 |
| 38 | Kingman | 34.0 |
| 39 | Bisbee | 35.67 |
| 40 | Apache Junction | 38.0 |
| 41 | Holbrook | 38.0 |
| 42 | Florence | 40.0 |
| 43 | Show Low | 40.33 |
| 44 | Camp Verde | 42.33 |
| 45 | Yuma | 42.67 |
| 46 | Coolidge | 44.0 |
| 47 | Youn | 44.33 |
| 48 | Bullhead City | 44.67 |
| 49 | Tucson | 45.67 |
| 50 | Snowflake | 45.67 |
| 51 | Somerton | 50.33 |
| 52 | Winslow | 50.33 |
| 53 | Eloy | 51.67 |
| 54 | Guadalupe | 52.33 |
| 55 | Nogales | 54.0 |
| 56 | San Luis | 54.33 |
| 57 | Douglas | 55.33 |
| 58 | South Tucson | 57.67 |
Thank you for this list because this is exactly what I need to help me with my research. Currently I stay in a let say semi suburban area in metro detroit and planning to move out here since my daughter live in Gilbert.