AreaProfile

Flagstaff, Arizona

Area Profile

76,445 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Flagstaff, in Coconino County.

42
Area Score
Bottom 1% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1474th of 1,567 published cities31
Growth1197th of 1,503 published cities33
Housing affordability1764th of 1,876 published cities40
Climate1705th of 1,876 published cities58
Physical resilience1496th of 1,849 published cities22
AccessTop 49% of 1,876 published cities95
Economic stability1373rd of 1,876 published cities49
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 5.4% and the Opportunity signal places Flagstaff in the bottom 6%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 302 units authorized over the past twelve months, 48% below the prior year.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, wildfire and earthquake.

At a glance

Population
76,445
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$71,512
Top 44% nationally
Density
1,158/sq mi
66.0 sq mi of land
Median age
25.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Coconino County
Arizona
Metro area
Flagstaff, AZ
Nearest major airport
FLG
4 mi · Flagstaff Pulliam
Median home value
$552,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.4% is lower than 17% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment fell 7.8% over the past year, to 40,115 employed residents.

52% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 90% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,375$71,512Top 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,645$38,409Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate18.2%Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute17.7 minBottom 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher52.3%Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment40,115Top 29%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-4.0%Bottom 5%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-7.8%Bottom 1%June 2026
Labor force42,422Top 28%June 2026
Labor force participation67.3%Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$61,230Bottom 19%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,500Bottom 19%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)1.0%Top 6%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.4%Top 17%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/065.82.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.4% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202472k61k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $71,512 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 — Flagstaff, AZ
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,790$33,690
Waiters and Waitresses2,210$37,080
General and Operations Managers2,180$77,740
Retail Salespersons2,150$36,440
Cashiers2,120$35,810
Registered Nurses1,570$100,780

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,645 takes 28% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 7.7 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
27.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
7.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,645
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$552,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income7.73Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate42.3%Bottom 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±54531,994Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$57$1,645Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$20,003$552,900Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income27.6%Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate10.8%Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
33/ 100
Ranks 1197 of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 77,539 in 2024.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

At 4.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
302
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.0
Top 39% nationally
Year over year
−48%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202478k75k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
202020212022202320242025874460
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−18%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 18°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 20.5 inches, including 90.1 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FLAGSTAFF PULLIAM AP, 3.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation20.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall90.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low18°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months41991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing37°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

22 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and earthquake.

WildfireHigh
LandslideModerate
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeElevated
Volcanic activityModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, winter weather, avalanche, cold wave, heat wave, ice storm, hail, drought, tornado, strong wind.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 4 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Flagstaff PulliamFLG4 mi8,800 ft
Grand Canyon Ntl ParkGCN61 mi8,999 ft
Phoenix Deer ValleyDVT107 mi8,196 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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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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 browse every source.

ZIP codes in Flagstaff

3 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
8600436,394$81,17243
8600517,961$87,94246
860114,019