Downtown Scottsdale and suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, with the White Tank Mountain Range in the … [+]
Arizona is a poster child of the post-World War II population explosion of the “Sun Belt.” The state’s population in 1910 was just over 294,000. By 1970, it had grown to more than 1.75 million, with the percentage growth averaging between roughly 20% and 60% per decades. As of the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey, the population of the state is over 7.43 million, having added nearly 300,000 more people between 2020 and 2023 alone.
As part of an ongoing series of analyses, we’re examining the latest Census Bureau data to drilldown on what the richest cities in Arizona are. This study analyzed 463 cities — what the Census Bureau designates as “places” — in Arizona that had complete data from the Census Bureau, in terms of their median household income, mean (average) household income, median home value, and median property taxes paid per year, to come up with a list of the 25 richest cities in the state.
Read on to find out what the richest city in Arizona is, plus the top 25 wealthiest cities in the state overall.
What Are the Richest Cities in Arizona?
In order to compile this list of the richest cities in Arizona, we sourced key financial data from the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey. Wielding these datasets, we put together a four-factor scoring system to help identify the wealthiest cities in Arizona:
- Median household income
- Mean (average) household income
- Median home value
- Median property taxes paid
When analyzing the data, it is important to note that Census figures have upper limits, so there’s no exact value for certain factors. For example, for median household income, the Census Bureau has an upper limit of “$250,000+”. For median home value, the upper limit is “$2,000,000+”. For median property taxes paid, the upper limit is “$10,000+”. For these reasons, the mean household income (which is the same as average household income) dataset is particularly useful. Since the Census Bureau has exact figures for it, it’s an even more precise barometer of wealth. All four of these metrics were scored, added up, and then ranked by the cities’ combined scores.
Another aspect of the Census to point out, and is particularly relevant to Arizona, is the Census-designated place — CDP. The Census, more or less, treats CDPs as cities — their terminology is “place” — and so will this list of the richest cities in Arizona. But if you see cities on this list that you see as, say, neighborhoods or retirement communities, you’re not wrong. They just happen to be treated as cities by the Census Bureau.
Below, you’ll find a table detailing the top 25 richest cities in Arizona and their respective dollar figures for each metric, below:
The No. 1 richest city in Arizona in our ranking is Paradise Valley, a town east of Phoenix, forming one of the state capital’s many suburbs. Healthcare and technical fields dominate here, Health Care & Social Assistance (17.8% of the workforce), Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services (14.8% of the workforce), and Finance & Insurance (10.3% of the work), according to Data USA. The median household income in Paradise Valley is $203,659, which is impressively high for a town of its size (over 5,000 total households and over 12,600 people). The mean household income is a full $180,000 more, at $385,643. The median home value in Paradise Valley, according to Zillow, is north of $3.2 million. Thus, it’s not surprising that the median property taxes paid per household is $9,166 per year.
The No. 2 richest place in Arizona is a rather interesting spot: Fort Valley. This census-designated place (CDP) is located outside Flagstaff. While still heavily a settlement of farms and ranches, open meadow, and wildlife, Fort Valley has substantially increased its wealth. Home values have surged over the years in Fort Valley. According to Redfin, the median sale price was down to $990,000 in August 2024. In July, the median sale price was $2.05 million. And in March 2023, it reached an all-time high of $4.05 million. Fort Valley only has 729 households. The median household income is $144,471, the second highest in Arizona behind Paradise Valley. The average household income in Fort Valley is $190,754, which is also the second highest behind only Paradise Valley. Property taxes aren’t as bad as in Paradise Valley though. The median paid per household is $4,190 a year.
The third richest place in Arizona is Rio Verde, a master-planned community east of Scottsdale (the latter being the 11th wealthiest city in Arizona). Home values are up 0.6% year-over-year, according to Zillow, with the median home value being over $823,000. The employment breakdown in Rio Verde is like many other of the richest cities in Arizona. The top industries by employment, according to Data USA, are Retail Trade (45.3% of the workforce), Transportation & Warehousing (14.6% of the workforce), and Other Services, Except Public Administration (9.06% of the workforce). The median household income in Rio Verde is $127,073, the fourth highest in Arizona. Rio Verde’s average household income of $169,906 is the third highest in the state.