AreaProfile

Glendale, Arizona

Area Profile

252,833 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Glendale, in Maricopa County.

50
Area Score
Bottom 10% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity134th of 139 published cities32
Growth108th of 134 published cities32
Housing affordability97th of 150 published cities60
Climate132nd of 149 published cities58
Physical resilience91st of 150 published cities47
AccessTop 35% of 149 published cities97
Economic stabilityTop 46% of 150 published cities56
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 5.1% and the Opportunity signal places Glendale in the bottom 4%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 462 units authorized over the past twelve months, 19% below the prior year.

A major airport is 12 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
252,833
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$73,530
Top 41% nationally
Density
3,760/sq mi
67.2 sq mi of land
Median age
34.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Maricopa County
Arizona
Metro area
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
Nearest major airport
PHX
12 mi · Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl
Median home value
$387,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.1% is lower than 23% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 3.9% over the past year, to 122,891 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,167$73,530Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$913$33,919Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate15.1%Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute30.0 minTop 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher24.3%Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment122,891Bottom 37%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.4%Bottom 30%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-3.9%Bottom 1%June 2026
Labor force129,454Bottom 37%June 2026
Labor force participation66.1%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$69,630Top 42%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$51,380Top 45%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.8%Top 15%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.1%Top 23%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/066.32.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.1% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202474k60k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $73,530 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 — Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers81,520$98,610
Retail Salespersons69,060$35,960
Customer Service Representatives68,930$46,410
Home Health and Personal Care Aides57,940$36,930
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand56,420$44,950
Fast Food and Counter Workers54,900$34,540

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 $1,528 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.3 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
24.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,528
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$387,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.27Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate57.2%Bottom 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,25593,736Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$42$1,528Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,998$387,500Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income24.9%Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.4%Bottom 31%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
32/ 100
Ranks 108 of 134 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 4% since 2020, reaching 258,143 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
462
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.8
Bottom 23% nationally
Year over year
−19%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024258k249k
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
2020202120222023202420252k476
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−13%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 104°F and January a low of 44°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 8.9 inches.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PHOENIX DEER VALLEY MUNI AP, 12.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND1.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation8.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low44°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high104°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing39°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

47 / 100
Physical resilience

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

Heat waveModerate
Inland floodingElevated
WildfireModerate
HailModerate
LandslideModerate
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, drought, earthquake, lightning, tornado, winter weather, hurricane.

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

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 12 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Phoenix Sky Harbor IntlPHX12 mi11,489 ft
Phoenix Deer ValleyDVT12 mi8,196 ft
Phoenix GoodyearGYR13 mi8,500 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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Put Glendale side by side with a similar place.

Glendale vs MesaGlendale vs Spring ValleyGlendale vs TempeGlendale vs Phoenix

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 Glendale

5 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
8530168,178$53,82745
8530865,095$95,24753
8530240,612$65,13248
8530333,663$80,65051
8530429,861$86,92753