15 Richest Cities in Arizona

Arizona is one of the most highly-populated states in the United States. With a vibrant culture, bustling metropolitan areas, and breathtaking desert views, it’s not hard to see why it is considered one of the highlights of the American Southwest.

Desert isn’t the only thing to experience in Arizona, however. The state is also home to lush forests, beautiful rivers, mountains and tableaus, and much more. Arizona also has 24 national park sites, the most famous one being the Grand Canyon.

Overall, Arizona ranks 28th on the national scale in terms of wealth. Therefore, it is not a particularly wealthy state in its own right. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of rich cities Arizona.

How Do We Measure The Wealthiest Cities in Arizona?

For the purposes of this article, we will measure wealth by the median household income of the city. The median income is calculated by comparing the income of every household on the city census and finding the number that evenly splits the population. In other words, half of the households earn less than the median income and half earn more.

For cities with a high median income, it is worth bearing in mind that half the population of the city earns more than that amount. This illustrates just how wealthy some of these populations truly are.

1. Paradise Valley

Median Household Income: $212,773

Paradise Valley certainly earns its name, as the wealthiest city in Arizona and the richest zip code in Arizona. With a population of just 12,568, this suburb of Phoenix is known for its luxury resorts and high-end real estate.

However, the town earned its name long before its reputation as a metaphorical gold mine. It was named in the 19th century thanks to its unusually lush flower and tree growth, rare for a desert climate.

It should come as no surprise that this wealthiest municipality in Arizona is also one of the most expensive. The local luxury resorts are some of the largest employers of the region and draw thousands of tourists every year.

This stunning suburb is also the hometown of quite a few notable people. These include Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, former Vice President Dan Quayle, and many others.

2. Rio Verde

Median Household Income: $125,611

Rio Verde is a small community just outside of Scottsdale. This planned community is age-restricted, and each household must have at least one member above the age of 55. While children are permitted, they are not considered permanent residents, and fewer than 1 percent of the households have children below the age of 18.

Though Rio Verde covers less than five square miles, it is census-designated and considered a municipality, not a neighborhood or dependent community. Considering the demographics it serves, it is not surprising that it is a wealthy area.

Rio Verde includes the Rio Verde Country Club, which features two 18-hole golf courses. The clubhouse is accessible only to members of the community. In addition to the many facilities within the neighborhood, Rio Verde also provides quick access to many of Arizona’s best outdoor activities. These include hiking, camping, horseback riding, kayaking, and more

3. Carefree

Median Household Income: $112,768

Carefree, Arizona, is a small town located a short distance from Scottsdale. With a population of 3,690, its slogan is “The Best Small Town in America”. The town was developed through careful urban planning in the mid century and is now known as one of the wealthiest cities in Arizona.

It is no mystery how the town earned its name. The surrounding scenery is beautiful, with the legendary Black Mountain on the skyline. With almost year-round sunshine and a vibrant community, Carefree is one of the most highly-rated small towns in the state.

For much of its history, Carefree was home to Southwestern Studios. This was one of Hollywood’s most popular locales for shooting southwestern films and television shows through the latter half of the 20th century. Though the studios have been demolished, they have left their legacy on the town. Orson Welles and Dick Van Dyke both shot on location in Carefree.

4. Tempe

Median Household Income: $111,420

Tempe is not only one of the wealthiest cities in Arizona, but also one of the largest. This city sits just east of Phoenix, bordering Chandler and Scottsdale. As of 2020, it had a total population of 180,587.

Tempe is known as a city with a thriving arts community that also offers plenty of opportunities for enjoying the great outdoors. The city rests on the banks of the Salt River, which also forms Tempe Town Lake. Tempe is also home to Arizona State University.

The median household income in Tempe is roughly $111,420, making it one of the most prosperous cities in Arizona. This may be due in part to the number of companies headquartered here, which are some of the largest employees in the region. These companies include Carvana, DriveTime, NortonLifeLock, the Salt River Project, Circle K, and others. Tempe was also formerly the site of the Coldstone Creamery Headquarters.

5. Queen Creek

Median Household Income: $104,161

Queen Creed is a town of about 60,000 people in Maricopa and Pinal counties. It is about 40 square miles total. Technically, Queen Creek is a southeastern suburb of the Phoenix metro area. This neighborhood has experienced rapid growth over the last decade, practically doubling in population between 2010 and 2020.

Originally, Queen Creek was established as Rittenhouse before 1919. Its eponymous creek, now a typically dry arroyo, flowed through Queen Canyon. Home of the American Heritage Festival since 2003, Queen Creek offers residents and visitors the largest annual living history educational event in the Southwest.

The town is known for its year-round stunning weather, averaging 330 days of sunshine annually. It also offers many historic buildings and access to outdoor recreation in the nearby creek and desert. With a median household income of $104,161, Queen Creek is one of the most prosperous cities in the state.

6. Gilbert

Median Household Income: $99,154

Gilbert, Arizona is a suburb of Phoenix and the fifth-largest city in Arizona. With a population of 267,918, it is also one of the most highly-populated cities in the state. Most of this growth occurred explosively over just a few decades, turning Gilbert from a farming community to a bustling suburban region.

Gilbert is a prosperous and safe city. It has a median household income of $99,154, with the largest employers being the local public school system and medical centers. It was also voted as one of the best places in Arizona to raise a family, thanks to its solid infrastructure, community resources, and low crime rates.

Gilbert is the hometown of hip hop violinist Lindsey Stirling, among many other well-known atheletes and musicians. If you are looking for a prosperous, safe place to live in Arizona, Gilbert might just be the perfect choice.

7. Litchfield Park

Median Household Income: $95,625

Nestled in Maricopa County just under 20 miles west of Phoenix, Litchfield Park is a small city populated by about 6,800 people. This historically quite affluent community is named for Paul Weeks Litchfield, executive of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

In 1964, Goodyear announced plans to build Litchfield Park into a city of 90,000 residents. Because of poor planning and execution throughout the development process, this project was eventually abandoned. The city remains a mere 3.3 square miles. Though it remains classified as a small town, Litchfield Park is still considered a great place to live.

The town is home to many historic buildings and has a vibrant, active community. Visitors flock to the area throughout the year for events such as the Flavors of the West Festival, Annual Wigwam Festival of Fine Art, and the Kiwanis Litchfield Park Winter Trout Fishing Derby. It is easy to see why this little town is considered such an attractive place to live.

8. Waddell

Median Household Income: $94,246

Waddell is an unincorporated community located in Maricopa County just northwest of Phoenix. It is named for Donald Ware Waddell, an Ohioan and investment firm partner with Brandon, Gordon, and Waddell. Waddell laid out initial plans for the town site in 1935. The firm organized private financing to construct the community’s dam that created Lake Pleasant. Interestingly, Waddell was not constructed on most of the land originally planned for it. The town remains mostly undeveloped compared to its original projections.

Waddell, as a name, is rapidly declining in popularity with the expansion of the city of Surprise. The latter has a population of over 143,000 and continues growing rapidly.

9. Scottsdale

Median Household Income: $91,042

Scottsdale is a city located in eastern Maricopa County. Sharing boundaries with many other municipalities, Scottsdale is part of the Phoenix metro. The city borders Paradise Valley, Carefree, Phoenix, unincorporated county land, Tempe, and the Tonto National Forest. To the south is the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. It was incorporated in 1951.

Scottsdale is named for its founder Winfield Scott, a retired U.S. Army chaplain, who established it in 1894. In 2020, the census-recorded population was over 240,000. Now 62 square miles, the Scottsdale was a mere five square miles in 1959. The city began a massive expansion and development process in the 1960s through the 1980s. For multiple decades, Scottsdale has been one of the fastest-growing U.S. cities.

Scottsdale now stands as Arizona’s seventh-largest city. It boasts a high quality of life and has for some time. Many small, medium, and large businesses operate there. Scottsdale was the first city to develop modern automated garbage trucks, deploying them in 1969.

10. Fountain Hills

Median Household Income: $87,080

Fountain Hills, a town in Maricopa County, is perhaps most famous for its once record-breaking fountain. When built in 1970, this attraction was the tallest fountain anywhere in the world. It spews water an impressive 560 feet! With a population of just under 24,000 people, this community sits at a comfortable size. Incorporated in just 1989, Fountain Hills was the eighth-fastest growing place in Arizona in the 1990s. The median price of a home in 2020 was an estimated $402,100.

Fountain Hills is about 20 square miles total. Its elevation is generally higher than Phoenix by at least 500 but often as much as 3,190 feet. These greater heights are found on a spur of the McDowell Mountains. The Verde River lies just east. The area is known for a sunshiny climate because of its stable descending air and high pressure.

11. Oro Valley

Median Household Income: $86,863

Oro Valley is a suburban town in Pima County that lies about six miles north of Tucson. Oro Valley is another local town that has almost doubled in size in the last 10 years, now over 47,000. Located about 110 miles southeast of Phoenix, Oro Valley is often called the “Upscale Tech Mecca” because it houses more than 10 high tech firms. The median household in Oro Valley is almost 50 percent higher than the median U.S. household income.

The town lies at the western foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Just north of town are the Tortolita Mountains and vistas of the Tucson valley are visible in the south. Many residents keep second or winter homes in Oro Valley while living elsewhere in the United States. The climate there is quite like Tucson’s with a bit less rain and slightly lower temperatures.

12. Chandler

Median Household Income: $85,796

Chandler is a suburb in the Phoenix metro located in Maricopa County. It lies southeast of Tempe, south of Mesa, west of Phoenix, and north of the Gila River Indian Community. The population is currently over 275,000 people. One of its most renowned events is the annual Ostrich Festival in honor of the ostrich farms of the 1910s. Before the rise of the commercial automobile, ostrich farms were key for producing the fashionable plumes many women wore on their hats.

Chandler houses many significant national employers. Top employers include Intel, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Microchip Technology, and PayPal, among numerous others. Many notable people hail from Chandler, including professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Patrick Murphy.

13. Goodyear

Median Household Income: $85,217

Goodyear is located in Maricopa County. It is named for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, which financed farmland cultivate to produce cotton for its tires. A suburb of Phoenix, it has a population of over 95,000– an increase of 30,000 residents since 2010! Goodyear is a major site for Major League Baseball team training. The city houses the Goodyear Ballpark, the spring training site for the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Guardians.

The Phoenix Goodyear Airport is a large airport with an 8,500 foot runway for large jet aircraft. While it has no active commercial air service, it is used by many international airlines for maintenance and storage. Numerous MLB players hail from Goodyear, including Rick Manning, Josh Rojas, and Tim Raines. NBA player Hersey Hawkins and Buffalo Bills player Mitchell Watt are also from the city.

14. Tucson

Median Household Income: $85,508

Tucson is the county seat of Pima County and home to the University of Arizona. It is Arizona’s second-largest city after Phoenix. The city has a population of well over half a million people, with the metro area totaling more than one million. Along with Phoenix, Tucson anchors the Arizona Sun Corridor. It is the 34th largest city in the United States.

The city of Tucson was founded by Spanish soldiers as a fort in 1775. When Mexico gained independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, it became part of the state of Sonora. The United States gained control of the area that is now southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico in 1853.

The city was the Arizona Territory’s capital from 1867 until 10 years later. Larger than Phoenix until the latter outgrew it in 1920, Tucson is now famous for its world-famous telescopes and housing major corporations like Raytheon and Walmart. It is also the location of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency.

15. Cave Creek

Median Household Income: $83,787

Cave Creek is part of the Phoenix metro area, located in Maricopa County. The population as of 2020 was just under 5,000. The town was originally settled by soldiers riding on horseback from Fort McDowell in 1870. Prospectors followed three years later when gold was discovered within the town limits. It came to be named for the cave beside the creek the town was founded on. Located at the northern edge of Paradise Valley, Cave Creek has beautiful mountain views close to the New River Mountains and the Black Hills. The town is a mere 33 miles north of downtown Phoenix and technically lies within city limits.

In the southern part of town, Black Mountain serves as a local landmark. It rises to 3,398 feet. Elephant Mountain flanks the northernmost part of town and rises to a towering 3,926 feet! The town is a little under 38 square miles. Since it is in the Sonoran Desert, the town tends to be arid. It stays cooler than the surrounding area, however, because of its higher elevation.