Arizona cost of living
Prices in Arizona run at 100.7 against a national average of 100, which makes it the 17th most expensive of the 51 jurisdictions. Housing is the part that separates states: rents there sit at 106.8.
Where the difference actually is
Arizona sits at 100.7, which is as close to the national average as this series gets. Places at the average are rarer than people assume, and it means a dollar here goes about as far as a dollar anywhere.
The parts move together here rather than pulling against each other: goods at 95.4, rents at 106.8, other services at 92.3. That is less common than it sounds. In most places rents sit well away from the other two, and the overall figure is really a housing figure in disguise. Goods at 95.4 are themselves 4.6 points off national, which is a wide gap for a category that is mostly shipped in.
A salary offer here is worth less than the same offer somewhere at 100, and the parity is the arithmetic that says by how much. Divide the offer by 100.7 and multiply by 100 to get the nationally comparable figure.
The vertical line is the national average of 100. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, SARPP, 2024.
What it costs, in actual money
Parities are ratios. These are the figures behind them for Arizona, drawn from the other datasets on this site.
| Arizona | |
|---|---|
| Median home value | $358,900 |
| Median gross rent | $1,431 a month |
| Median household income | $76,872 |
| Average electricity bill | $160 a month |
| Effective property tax | 0.52% |
Metro areas in Arizona
Within a state, cities and rural areas diverge sharply. A statewide parity averages over that.
| Metro area | All items | Goods | Rents | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler | 103.3 | 95.0 | 121.2 | #44 |
| Flagstaff | 100.3 | 96.2 | 109.0 | #81 |
| Prescott Valley-Prescott | 98.3 | 96.2 | 98.8 | #108 |
| Tucson | 96.9 | 96.2 | 91.8 | #131 |
| Lake Havasu City-Kingman | 94.1 | 96.2 | 79.8 | #180 |
| Yuma | 92.7 | 96.2 | 73.8 | #225 |
| Sierra Vista-Douglas | 89.2 | 96.2 | 61.9 | #307 |
Arizona cost of living: common questions
Is Arizona expensive to live in?
Prices overall are 0.7% above the national average, at a parity of 100.7 where 100 is the country as a whole. It ranks #17 of 51. Goods run at 95.4, rents at 106.8 and other services at 92.3.
What is a salary in Arizona really worth?
The median wage there is $48,810. Adjusted for local prices that buys what $48,471 buys nationally. A state that pays well and costs more can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows it.
What is a regional price parity?
An official measure from the Bureau of Economic Analysis of what a dollar buys in one place against the national average, set at 100. It is built from the same price collection that underlies the consumer price index, extended to compare places rather than time periods. It is the only government measure of cost of living differences between states.
Why is housing treated separately?
Because it carries most of the difference. In Arizona rents sit 6.1 points above the state's overall parity. Goods barely vary between states, since most of them are shipped nationally; services vary more; housing varies enormously. Any cost of living comparison that does not separate housing is mostly measuring housing anyway.