Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ

Metro Area Profile

220,517 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ metropolitan area.

37out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 1% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity379th of 379 published metros9
Growth438th of 821 published metros48
Housing affordability734th of 822 published metros68
Climate660th of 822 published metros58
Physical resilience737th of 822 published metros21
Access552nd of 822 published metros67
Economic stability751st of 822 published metros19
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published metro profiles: unemployment is 6.9% and the Opportunity signal places Lake Havasu City-Kingman in the bottom 1%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 900 units authorized over the past twelve months, 64% below the prior year.

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

At a glance

Population
220,517
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$57,684
Bottom 20% nationally
Density
17/sq mi
13332.1 sq mi of land
Median age
53.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ
Nearest major airport
IFP
60 mi · Laughlin/Bullhead Intl
Median home value
$281,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.9% is lower than 4% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment fell 5.5% over the past year, to 79,966 employed residents.

Median household income of $57,684 is below 80% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,429$57,684Bottom 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,099$35,963Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.1%Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute21.1 minBottom 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher15.2%Bottom 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment79,966Bottom 35%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.5%Bottom 14%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-5.5%Bottom 4%June 2026
Labor force85,866Bottom 36%June 2026
Labor force participation44.5%Bottom 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$54,860Bottom 17%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$44,230Bottom 15%2025 OEWS
Metro employment56,490Bottom 23%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)1.7%Top 1%June 2026
Unemployment rate6.9%Top 4%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.94.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.9% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
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

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 $1,091 takes 23% 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
22.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,091
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$281,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.87Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate74.1%Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±136121,881Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$28$1,091Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,877$281,000Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.7%Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate16.3%Top 23%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
48/ 100
Ranks 438 of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2024 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 6% since 2020, reaching 226,479 in 2024.

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

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

At 4.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
900
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.1
Top 32% nationally
Year over year
−64%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024226k214k
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.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 99°F and January a low of 31°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 8.0 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station KINGMAN MOHAVE CO AP, 33.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND1.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation8.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low31°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high99°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing41°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

21 / 100
Physical resilience

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

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.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 60 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Laughlin/Bullhead IntlIFP60 mi8,501 ft
Harry Reid IntlLAS82 mi14,835 ft
Lake Havasu CityHII86 mi8,000 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 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 30, 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.