Arizona by the numbers
In Arizona, the median worker earns $48,810 a year, the typical home is worth $358,900 and carries $1,858 of property tax, and the average household pays $160 a month for electricity at 15.23¢ per kilowatt-hour.
West Western Interconnection Regulated monopoly
Energy
The Palo Verde Generating Station is the largest power plant in the United States by output, and it sits west of Phoenix. Its energy is low-cost, carbon-free and long since built, and it supplies a large share of Arizona's electricity along with power sold into California and elsewhere.
Arizona has also added utility-scale solar rapidly, which is well matched to a load shape dominated by afternoon air conditioning, and increasingly battery storage to push that solar output into the evening peak.
The state's population growth adds customers faster than most, which spreads fixed costs across a widening base. It is one of the more underrated reasons fast-growing Sun Belt states have held rates relatively well.
Averaged across the twelve months to May 2026, Arizona households used 1,041 kilowatt-hours a month and paid $160. At the state median wage that is about 6.8 hours of work a month to keep the lights on. For heating, a heat pump costs less to run than gas here, by about $7.05 per million BTU.
Work and pay
The median Arizona worker earned $48,810 in 2024, 1.4% below the national median. What distinguishes a state's labour market is rarely its biggest occupations, which are retail and food service everywhere, but what it has disproportionately.
| Occupation | Concentration | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous Mining Machine Operators | 7.38× | $58,790 |
| Semiconductor Processing Technicians | 5.6× | $78,050 |
| Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers | 4.82× | $102,780 |
| Tapers | 3.92× | $48,170 |
| Anthropologists and Archeologists | 3.69× | $60,630 |
Property tax
The median Arizona homeowner pays $1,858 a year on a home worth $358,900, an effective rate of 0.52% against a national 0.98%. Nobody sets that rate. It is what falls out of county, city, school district and special district levies applied to an assessed value, so the state figure is a weighted average of 15 counties rather than a posted number.
Cost of living
Prices in Arizona run at 100.7 where the national average is 100, ranking it #17 of 51. Goods sit at 95.4, which is close to national almost everywhere because most goods are shipped and priced nationally. Rents sit at 106.8, and that is where states actually separate from one another. A median wage of $48,810 therefore buys what $48,471 buys nationally.
Metro areas priced separately: Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler (103.3) , Flagstaff (100.3) , Prescott Valley-Prescott (98.3) , Tucson (96.9) , Lake Havasu City-Kingman (94.1) .
Housing
House prices in Arizona rose 0.5% over the year to 2026 Q2, against a median across all states of +2.7%. Over ten years the index is +114.5%. Prices are at or near their record level.
Metro areas tracked here: Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler (+0.7%) , Tucson (-2.4%) .
Who supplies the power
22 utilities report residential service in Arizona, together serving 3.2 million customers. Regulated monopoly.
Arizona: common questions
What does it cost to live in Arizona?
Prices overall run at 100.7 against a national average of 100, with rents at 106.8. The typical home is worth $358,900 and carries $1,858 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.52% against a national 0.98%. Electricity averages $160 a month at 15.23¢ per kilowatt-hour. Against that, the median wage is $48,810.
What is the property tax rate in Arizona?
The effective rate is 0.52% of home value, from a median bill of $1,858. It is set locally rather than by the state, so the figure is a weighted outcome across 15 counties. County by county rates.
Does a salary go further in Arizona?
The median wage of $48,810 buys what $48,471 buys nationally, once local prices are taken out. A state paying above the national median while charging above it for housing can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows which side of that line Arizona falls on.
Is Arizona expensive for electricity?
It ranks #32 of 51 jurisdictions on price at 15.23¢ per kilowatt-hour, -17.4% against the U.S. average. On the actual bill it ranks 19 of 51, because households there use 1,041 kWh a month against a national 871.
What is the median salary in Arizona?
$48,810 across all occupations, about $23.47 an hour, covering 3,196,750 wage and salary workers as of 2024.
Who supplies electricity in Arizona?
22 utilities report residential service, the largest being Arizona Public Service Co with 1.3 million customers. Regulated monopoly.
Electricity May 2026, gas 2024, utilities 2024, wages 2024. All figures from federal statistical agencies. Methodology · Sources