AreaProfile

85255Scottsdale, Arizona

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 85255.

55
Area Score
Bottom 26% of 695 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity405th of 727 published ZIP areas52
Growth482nd of 701 published ZIP areas41
Housing affordability566th of 800 published ZIP areas57
Climate708th of 779 published ZIP areas58
Physical resilience481st of 800 published ZIP areas47
AccessTop 24% of 779 published ZIP areas99
Economic stability585th of 800 published ZIP areas48
The quick read

Residential permitting has slowed: 1,128 units authorized over the past twelve months, 39% below the prior year.

A major airport is 6 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

Its Area Score of 55 places 85255 in the top 74% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
45,346
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$140,616
Top 5% nationally
Density
514/sq mi
88.2 sq mi of land
Median age
51.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Scottsdale
Arizona
Metro area
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
Nearest major airport
SDL
6 mi · Scottsdale
Median home value
$1,036,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.6% is lower than 51% of the 1,061 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 3.9% over the past year, to 129,328 employed residents.

67% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 96% of measured US ZIP areas.

Household income is higher than at least 95% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$11,567$140,616Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$6,882$102,023Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate6.9%Bottom 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.8 minBottom 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher66.9%Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment129,328Bottom 25%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.3%Bottom 13%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-3.9%Bottom 4%June 2026
Labor force135,499Bottom 25%June 2026
Labor force participation54.3%Bottom 29%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)1.0%Top 4%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.6%Bottom 49%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024144k132k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $140,616 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 Scottsdale, AZ, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,483 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 7.4 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
21.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
7.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,483
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$1,036,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income7.37Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate73.1%Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±77923,364Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$123$2,483Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$47,867$1,036,800Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income21.2%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate15.1%Top 37%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
41/ 100
Ranks 482 of 701 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.

64% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 4.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
1,128
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.7
Top 38% nationally
Year over year
−39%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
63.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Scottsdale, 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 104°F and January a low of 43°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 8.7 inches.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SCOTTSDALE MUNI AP, 6.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND1.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation8.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low43°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high104°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 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 6 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
ScottsdaleSDL6 mi8,249 ft
Phoenix Deer ValleyDVT15 mi8,196 ft
Phoenix Sky Harbor IntlPHX19 mi11,489 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
55
Your Score

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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.

85255 vs Scottsdale

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

85255
Scottsdale
Median household income
$140,616
vs
$110,886
Per capita income
$102,023
vs
$86,009
Population density
514/sq mi
vs
1,325/sq mi
Median home value
$1,036,800
vs
$789,800
Median gross rent
$2,483
vs
$2,013
Homeownership rate
73.1%
vs
67.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher
66.9%
vs
61.9%
Poverty rate
6.9%
vs
7.3%
Median age
51.5
vs
49.0

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.