Maricopa is the seventh city in Arizona for highest salaries and lowest cost of living.
Affordability is a big issue in Arizona, which is among the 30% most expensive states to live in.
Hawaii-based financial think tank GOBankingRates, using U.S. Census data, reports that Maricopa has a median annual salary of $88,355, 18% higher than the national average, and a cost of living 6% higher higher than the national average.
Number one on the state list is Peoria with an average annual salary of $94,167. The city northwest of Phoenix and located between Glendale and Sun City reports an annual salary 26% higher than the 2022 national average of $74,580. The cost of living in Peoria is 10% higher than the national average, according to the report.
Arizona in general does not have a low cost of living compared to other states. The study ranks the state 36th in the country for affordability based on housing costs, groceries, utilities, transportation, health care and other costs.
“That means that only 14 states and the District of Columbia were more expensive in 2023,” the study states.
Jobs in education and health services, construction, leisure and hospitality are expected to grow the most in Arizona, reflecting the influx of new residents, most of whom are retirees.
Other cities ranked in order are Tucson, Cameron, Aguila, Glendale and Avondale.
Cameron is a Navajo Nation community of less than 1,000 residents in Coconino County. Águila is a small unincorporated community between Wickenburg and Interstate 10.
The report says Tucson, which ranks No. 2, has an average annual salary of $92,702 and an annual salary that is 24% higher than the national average. The cost of living in Tucson was 4% higher than the national average.
Glendale reported an average annual salary of $90,461 and Avondale, $88,881.
Glendale’s annual salary is 21% higher than the national average and its cost of living is 2% higher than the national average. Avondale has an annual salary 19% above the national average and 5% above the national average.
Overall, Arizona ranked seventh in population growth between 2022 and 2023, adding 65,660 residents during that period, according to the census. The state also ranked third in the U.S. in job growth and fifth in economic growth, census figures show.
“The state’s population is about 7.4 million and about 42% of adults are college-educated,” GOBankingRates reports. “The median family income is $69,056, slightly lower than the national average.”
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