86442 — Bullhead City, Arizona

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 86442. Its median home value runs 12% below Bullhead City as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

37out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 1% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
Opportunity3,110th of 3,116 ZIP areas measured8
Schools2,683rd of 3,047 ZIP areas measured19
GrowthTop 18% of 3,124 ZIP areas measured67
Housing affordability1,926th of 3,112 ZIP areas measured63
Climate3,092nd of 3,127 ZIP areas measured51
Physical resilience2,676th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured21
AccessTop 30% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured97
Economic stability2,765th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured27
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable ZIP areas measured: unemployment is 7.5% and the Opportunity signal places 86442 in the bottom 1%. The unemployment rate is published for Bullhead City, AZ, which contains 86442, rather than for 86442 alone.

In the public schools here, 34% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.5 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 359 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 34% on the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Bullhead City, AZ, which contains 86442, rather than for 86442 alone.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
34,735
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$48,081
Bottom 13% nationally
Density
1,233/sq mi
28.2 sq mi of land
Median age
52.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Bullhead City
Arizona
Nearest major airport
IFP
4 mi · Laughlin/Bullhead Intl
Median home value
$186,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Bullhead City, AZ, which contains 86442, is 7.5% — higher than in all but 2% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Bullhead City, AZ, which contains 86442, fell 5.4% over the past year, to 15,016 employed residents.

Median household income of $48,081 is lower than in 87% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsMohave County, AZ’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$68,15150th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftMohave County, AZ’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$55,84520th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,7862024 ACS 5-Year$48,081Bottom 13%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,4132024 ACS 5-Year$31,895Bottom 33%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year20.5%Bottom 16%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year20.3 minTop 14%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year14.5%Bottom 23%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year78.5%60th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentBullhead City, AZ’s figureJuly 202615,016Bottom 10%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Bullhead City, AZ’s figureJuly 2026−3.7%Bottom 8%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Bullhead City, AZ’s figureJuly 2026−5.4%Bottom 2%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceBullhead City, AZ’s figureJuly 202616,23811th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year64.5%Bottom 14%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageLake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$54,860Bottom 8%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageLake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$44,230Bottom 7%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%62nd percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Bullhead City, AZ’s figureJuly 2026+1.8%Bottom 1%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateBullhead City, AZ’s figureJuly 20267.5%Bottom 2%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year8.4%43rd percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202448k41k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $48,081 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Cashiers2,650$32,510
General and Operations Managers2,170$74,050
Retail Salespersons2,130$34,610
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,960$31,100
Stockers and Order Fillers1,350$36,390
Office Clerks, General1,320$41,740

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Bullhead City, AZ, the city containing this ZIP code.

34% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 35% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.5 students for every full-time teacher across 3 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.5
across 3 of them
Math proficiency
33.8%
Bottom 18% in Arizona
Reading proficiency
34.9%
Bottom 16% in Arizona
All 10 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Mohave High SchoolColorado River Union High School District (4381)1,06719.432%37%
Mohave Accelerated Learning Center · charterMohave Accelerated Learning Center (79498)52214.143%38%
Desert Valley SchoolBullhead City School District (4378)517—30%27%
Fox Creek Jr High SchoolBullhead City School District (4378)433—24%25%
Bullhead City Middle SchoolBullhead City School District (4378)424—27%27%
Mohave Accelerated Elementary School · charterMohave Accelerated Elementary School Inc. (85516)40818.552%53%
Diamondback Elementary SchoolBullhead City School District (4378)313—30%37%
Coyote Canyon SchoolBullhead City School District (4378)90———
WAVE - Mohave Accelerated Learning CenterWestern Arizona Vocational District #50 (90123)0———
WAVE - Mohave High SchoolWestern Arizona Vocational District #50 (90123)0—22%37%

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Arizona’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 10% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 90.5, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ Metro Area is up 27% over five years, and flat over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $796 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.43% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,365, some 27% above the $1,074 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,365 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $54,600 a year, about 114% of the median household income here of $48,081.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,074 a month.

A median home at $186,800 costs 3.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $51,728, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
90.5

Prices here run about 10% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
31.6%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,365
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,074
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$186,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 86442’s median household income of $48,081, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ Metro Area’s figure202390.5Top 12%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ Metro Area’s figure2026 Q20.0%8th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+27.0%9th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+112.4%77th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year3.6Bottom 24%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year69.9%29th percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4742024 ACS 5-Year20,12897th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,060Top 34%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,897Top 46%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,365Top 41%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$442024 ACS 5-Year$1,074Bottom 45%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,3482024 ACS 5-Year$186,80041st percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1232024 ACS 5-Year$79613th percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,9062024 ACS 5-Year$51,728Bottom 9%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year0.43%7th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year31.6%Bottom 32%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3762024 ACS 5-Year2,16499th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year10.8%82nd percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.1%37th percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4322024 ACS 5-Year3,18799th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

67/ 100
Top 18% of 3,124 published ZIP profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 359 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Bullhead City, AZ, which contains 86442, rather than for 86442 alone.

At 8.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Bullhead City, AZ, which contains 86442, rather than for 86442 alone.

Units permitted
359
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
8.4
Top 17% nationally
Year over year
+34%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
+2.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
88%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$68,151
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$55,845
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Clark County, NV 1,282 people · 10% of arrivals
  2. San Bernardino County, CA 1,137 people · 9.3% of arrivals
  3. Riverside County, CA 921 people · 7.5% of arrivals
  4. Los Angeles County, CA 815 people · 6.7% of arrivals
  5. Maricopa County, AZ 693 people · 5.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Clark County, NV 932 people · 10% of departures
  2. Maricopa County, AZ 786 people · 8.7% of departures
  3. San Bernardino County, CA 391 people · 4.3% of departures
  4. Riverside County, CA 288 people · 3.2% of departures
  5. Yavapai County, AZ 245 people · 2.7% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Mohave County, AZ. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Bullhead City, AZ, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 111°F and January a low of 46°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 4.3 inches.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEEDLES AP, 22.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND0.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year302024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals4.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals111°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year192024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals44°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
19
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
30
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

21 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 70% of it.

WildfireHigh
Heat waveModerate
Inland floodingElevated
EarthquakeModerate
Volcanic activityModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, winter weather, strong wind, ice storm, avalanche, landslide, hail, drought, tornado, cold wave, hurricane, tsunami, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Homicide
3.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
26.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
37.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
31.7
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around 86442 (Mohave County) rather than 86442 itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Bullhead City carries the figure where its department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Laughlin/Bullhead Intl at 4 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year89.6%Top 49%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle4 miTop 6%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 21%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.4%Bottom 47%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Laughlin/Bullhead IntlIFP4 mi8,501 ft
Lake Havasu CityHII38 mi8,000 ft
Harry Reid IntlLAS76 mi14,835 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
37
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

86442 vs Bullhead City

How this ZIP area compares with Bullhead City as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

86442
Bullhead City
Median household income: Bullhead City is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$48,081
vs
$50,556
Per capita income: Bullhead City is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$31,895
vs
$35,822
Population density
1,233/sq mi
vs
716/sq mi
Median home value
$186,800
vs
$211,500
Median gross rent: 86442 is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$1,074
vs
$1,079
Homeownership rate
69.9%
vs
69.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher: Bullhead City is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
14.5%
vs
15.2%
Poverty rate: Bullhead City is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
20.5%
vs
18.4%
Median age
52.8
vs
56.0

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.