RelocateMath
City cost of living 2026

Cost of living in Phoenix, AZ

The Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metro area (5,186,958 people) ranks #33 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.

By Data reviewed Data: Census ACS, BEA, BLS, NOAA, IRS, FEMA (methodology)

New York, NY: price level 112.6Los Angeles, CA: price level 113.6Chicago, IL: price level 103.6Dallas, TX: price level 103.1Houston, TX: price level 98.6Miami, FL: price level 114.2Washington, D.C.: price level 108.9Atlanta, GA: price level 100.1Philadelphia, PA: price level 102.6Phoenix, AZ: price level 103.3Boston, MA: price level 108.3Riverside, CA: price level 106.4San Francisco, CA: price level 115.6Detroit, MI: price level 100.3Seattle, WA: price level 111.1Minneapolis, MN: price level 104.8Tampa, FL: price level 100.9San Diego, CA: price level 111.9Denver, CO: price level 105.8Orlando, FL: price level 101.4Charlotte, NC: price level 97.3Baltimore, MD: price level 104.5St. Louis, MO: price level 95.1San Antonio, TX: price level 94.7Austin, TX: price level 98.1Portland, OR: price level 105.4Sacramento, CA: price level 106.7Pittsburgh, PA: price level 94.7Las Vegas, NV: price level 100.2Cincinnati, OH: price level 95.4Kansas City, MO: price level 92.5Columbus, OH: price level 95.5Indianapolis, IN: price level 95.7Cleveland, OH: price level 93.9Nashville, TN: price level 96.3San Jose, CA: price level 110.4Virginia Beach, VA: price level 97.9Jacksonville, FL: price level 99.5Providence, RI: price level 101.8Milwaukee, WI: price level 96.9Raleigh, NC: price level 98.2Oklahoma City, OK: price level 90.4Louisville, KY: price level 93.1Richmond, VA: price level 97.9Memphis, TN: price level 92.2Salt Lake City, UT: price level 100.9Birmingham, AL: price level 91.6Fresno, CA: price level 102.2Grand Rapids, MI: price level 95.5Hartford, CT: price level 102.7Buffalo, NY: price level 95.8Tucson, AZ: price level 96.9Tulsa, OK: price level 89.2Rochester, NY: price level 97.0Omaha, NE: price level 91.9Honolulu, HI: price level 111.0Greenville, SC: price level 93.3Bridgeport, CT: price level 106.9New Orleans, LA: price level 92.6Knoxville, TN: price level 92.6Sarasota, FL: price level 102.4Albuquerque, NM: price level 95.5Bakersfield, CA: price level 100.9McAllen, TX: price level 85.9Albany, NY: price level 99.6Allentown, PA: price level 100.0Baton Rouge, LA: price level 90.8Worcester, MA: price level 102.5El Paso, TX: price level 89.9Columbia, SC: price level 93.7Charleston, SC: price level 101.0Cape Coral, FL: price level 102.3Lakeland, FL: price level 97.1Boise, ID: price level 98.4Oxnard, CA: price level 110.5Dayton, OH: price level 92.7Stockton, CA: price level 105.1Greensboro, NC: price level 92.9Colorado Springs, CO: price level 100.7Little Rock, AR: price level 89.4Provo, UT: price level 98.2Des Moines, IA: price level 91.7Daytona Beach, FL: price level 99.4Poughkeepsie, NY: price level 109.4Madison, WI: price level 97.3Winston-Salem, NC: price level 92.0Akron, OH: price level 93.4Ogden, UT: price level 100.3Wichita, KS: price level 88.9Palm Bay, FL: price level 100.0Syracuse, NY: price level 95.7Augusta, GA: price level 91.9Durham, NC: price level 97.6Harrisburg, PA: price level 98.7Jackson, MS: price level 89.0Fayetteville, AR: price level 91.4Spokane, WA: price level 100.3Toledo, OH: price level 91.5Chattanooga, TN: price level 91.5New Haven, CT: price level 104.6Reno, NV: price level 101.0Portland, ME: price level 101.9Port St. Lucie, FL: price level 100.2Huntsville, AL: price level 93.1Pensacola, FL: price level 97.7Lexington, KY: price level 92.9Killeen, TX: price level 91.1Springfield, MO: price level 88.6Santa Rosa, CA: price level 107.8Wilmington, NC: price level 96.4Fort Wayne, IN: price level 92.6Vallejo, CA: price level 108.5Santa Barbara, CA: price level 108.8Salinas, CA: price level 109.0Savannah, GA: price level 95.2Manchester, NH: price level 105.7Ocala, FL: price level 95.2Asheville, NC: price level 96.5Naples, FL: price level 103.2Myrtle Beach, SC: price level 93.6Anchorage, AK: price level 105.4Spartanburg, SC: price level 91.1Fayetteville, NC: price level 92.0Trenton, NJ: price level 103.2Eugene, OR: price level 101.6Fort Collins, CO: price level 101.1Ann Arbor, MI: price level 100.9Greeley, CO: price level 100.2Gainesville, FL: price level 96.7Clarksville, TN: price level 90.9Boulder, CO: price level 105.2Columbus, GA: price level 89.3Crestview, FL: price level 97.0Sioux Falls, SD: price level 90.6Olympia, WA: price level 103.7Norwich, CT: price level 100.4Bremerton, WA: price level 105.6Fargo, ND: price level 90.9Bend, OR: price level 103.6Daphne, AL: price level 94.7Prescott, AZ: price level 98.3Hilton Head Island, SC: price level 98.0Burlington, VT: price level 100.9Panama City, FL: price level 97.3Jacksonville, NC: price level 92.1Punta Gorda, FL: price level 100.5Billings, MT: price level 93.5The Villages, FL: price level 85.4Cheyenne, WY: price level 96.5

Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.

Price level of the 149 metros we cover
See all 149 cities

Price level, from cheaper to pricier.

Salary to match $75k
$80,200
vs. an average-priced, no-income-tax area
Median rent
$1,819
per month · need $72,760 income
Median home
$470,600
need about $117,776 to buy

Compare Phoenix with your city

See what you'd need to earn in Phoenix to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from Los Angeles, CA, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), at about its median household income. Pick your own city and salary.

Equal salary in Phoenix: $80,000

Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities

To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $80,000 in Phoenix, AZ to match $95,000 in Los Angeles, CA ($15,000 less), after 2026 taxes and local prices.

Single filer, W-2 salary. Uses California and Arizona state income tax; neither city levies a resident income tax.

Take-home in Los Angeles
$69,838
26.5% total tax
Take-home in Phoenix
$73,690
22.4% total tax
Prices in Phoenix
-9.1%
vs Los Angeles (BEA 2024)
Renting: change after selected costs
+$7,400
per year, after taxes, rent and power; excludes food, transport, healthcare, child care and moving costs

See the full Los Angeles to Phoenix report

What things cost in Phoenix

Price level by category (U.S. = 100)
Below the U.S. average Above the U.S. average
Overall103.3
Housing121.2
Goods95.0
Utilities93.3
Other services104.0

The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.

Taxes in Phoenix

On a $90,000 salary (about the area's median household income), a single filer keeps $70,298 after 2026 federal tax ($10,970), Social Security and Medicare ($6,885) and Arizona income tax ($1,848).

Housing

MeasurePhoenix area
Median rent$1,819/mo
Median home value$470,600
Median property tax$1,883/yr
Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down)$2,748
Median household income$90,133

Climate and jobs in Phoenix

In the Phoenix area the average January low is 46°F and the average July high 107°F, and the area has about 173 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 3.8% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $51,380 a year, 1% above the U.S. median.

Climate in the Phoenix area: NOAA 1991–2020 normals
Climate1991–2020 average
January low46°F
July high107°F
Days 90°F or hotter173 a year
Precipitation7.2 in a year
Snowfall0 in a year
Jobs and pay in the Phoenix area compared with the U.S. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Jobs and payMetro areaU.S.
Unemployment rate, 2025 average3.8%4.3%
Median wage, all jobs (May 2025)$51,380$50,980
Wage and salary jobs (May 2025)2.4 million155.5 million

Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport station (USW00023183), with snowfall from Tempe ASU (USC00028499) because the main station doesn't record it. Weather varies across a metro area, especially with elevation and distance from the coast. Jobs: unemployment from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; wages and job counts from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, which count wage and salary jobs, not the self-employed; wages are before taxes. The 2025 average covers 11 months: October 2025 data were not collected during the federal government shutdown.

Retiring in Phoenix

A single retiree spends about $3,098 a month here if they own their home outright, or $4,450 renting, based on typical spending for households 65 and older (BLS 2024) adjusted for local prices. See where your budget goes furthest.

Where people move to and from Phoenix

Leaving Phoenix for… (households)
Tucson3,473
Los Angeles3,264
Prescott2,432
Seattle2,250
Dallas2,225
Chicago2,054
Denver1,862
San Diego1,802
Moving to Phoenix from… (households)
Los Angeles5,909
Tucson4,034
Chicago3,626
Seattle3,226
Riverside2,959
San Diego2,671
Denver2,060
Prescott1,960

IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.

Natural hazard risk

FEMA rates the Phoenix area among the highest for natural hazard risk (score 99.3 of 100), with expected losses of about $482 per resident per year. Disaster risk by county in Arizona.

Highest relative risks (national percentile)
Higher risk than most U.S. counties
Heat wave100
Riverine flooding100
Wildfire100
Hail98
Drought98

The vertical line marks the middle of U.S. counties (50).

Frequently asked questions

What salary do you need to live in Phoenix?

To match the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax, you need about $80,200 in Phoenix. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $72,760, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $117,776.

Is Phoenix expensive?

The Phoenix metro area's price level is 103.3 (U.S. = 100), #33 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing price index is 121.2, 21% above the U.S. average.

Are people moving to Phoenix?

Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, Phoenix had a net gain of about 10,980 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).

What is the weather like in Phoenix?

In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the Phoenix area (Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport weather station), the average January low is 46°F and the average July high 107°F. The area has about 173 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 7.2 inches of precipitation a year and almost no snow.

What are jobs and pay like in Phoenix?

The Phoenix metro area's unemployment rate averaged 3.8% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $51,380 a year in May 2025, 1% above the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

What natural disasters affect Phoenix?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the area among the highest overall (score 99.3). The highest relative risks are heat wave, riverine flooding, wildfire.

Compare Phoenix with other cities

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