AreaProfile

85201Mesa, Arizona

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 85201.

52
Area Score
Bottom 13% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3624th of 4,073 published ZIP areas33
Growth2740th of 3,947 published ZIP areas38
Housing affordability3214th of 4,553 published ZIP areas61
Climate4028th of 4,621 published ZIP areas59
Physical resilience2805th of 4,554 published ZIP areas47
AccessTop 19% of 4,623 published ZIP areas99
Economic stability2559th of 4,591 published ZIP areas57
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 4.8% and the Opportunity signal places 85201 in the bottom 11%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 1,478 units authorized over the past twelve months, 35% below the prior year.

A major airport is 9 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
51,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$67,294
Bottom 43% nationally
Density
5,437/sq mi
9.5 sq mi of land
Median age
32.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Mesa
Arizona
Metro area
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
Nearest major airport
PHX
9 mi · Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl
Median home value
$328,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% is lower than 37% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 3.9% over the past year, to 257,424 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,719$67,294Bottom 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,184$34,993Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.5%Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute25.5 minBottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher27.8%Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment257,424Top 12%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.0%Bottom 20%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-3.9%Bottom 4%June 2026
Labor force270,286Top 12%June 2026
Labor force participation72.1%Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$69,630Top 41%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$51,380Top 44%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.9%Top 8%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.8%Top 37%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202467k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $67,294 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.

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

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,445 takes 26% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.9 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
25.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,445
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$328,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.89Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate39.4%Bottom 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±85122,779Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$40$1,445Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$16,254$328,800Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income25.8%Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate8.9%Bottom 42%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
38/ 100
Ranks 2740 of 3,947 published city 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.

At 2.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
1,478
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.9
Bottom 48% nationally
Year over year
−35%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
44.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

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

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 107°F and January a low of 46°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 7.2 inches.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PHOENIX SKY HARBOR INTL AP, 8.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND0.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation7.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low46°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high107°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing40°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. 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.

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 9 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Phoenix Sky Harbor IntlPHX9 mi11,489 ft
ScottsdaleSDL14 mi8,249 ft
Mesa GatewayIWA14 mi10,401 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
52
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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.

85201 vs Mesa

How this ZIP area compares with Mesa as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

85201
Mesa
Median household income
$67,294
vs
$82,752
Per capita income
$34,993
vs
$41,453
Population density
5,437/sq mi
vs
3,609/sq mi
Median home value
$328,800
vs
$408,000
Median gross rent
$1,445
vs
$1,620
Homeownership rate
39.4%
vs
64.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher
27.8%
vs
32.5%
Poverty rate
16.5%
vs
10.3%
Median age
32.3
vs
37.4

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.