Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ

Metro Area Profile

245,480 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ metropolitan area.

42out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 2% of 379 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity358th of 379 metros measured27
GrowthTop 46% of 821 metros measured53
Housing affordability779th of 822 metros measured59
ClimateTop 43% of 822 metros measured68
Physical resilience773rd of 822 metros measured15
Access568th of 822 metros measured66
Economic stability547th of 822 metros measured39
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published metro profiles: unemployment is 5.8% and the Opportunity signal places Prescott Valley-Prescott in the bottom 6%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 1,279 units authorized over the past twelve months, 35% below the prior year.

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

At a glance

Population
245,480
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$69,613
Top 42% nationally
Density
30/sq mi
8122.9 sq mi of land
Median age
55.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ
Nearest major airport
FLG
62 mi · Flagstaff Pulliam
Median home value
$425,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.8% is lower than 8% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment fell 4.8% over the past year, to 97,816 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$1,866$69,613Top 42%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,116$41,784Top 21%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate12.0%Bottom 35%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.6 minTop 45%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher30.3%Top 32%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Employment97,816Bottom 44%of 379June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-3.1%Bottom 12%of 379June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-4.8%Bottom 4%of 379June 2026
Labor force103,799Bottom 44%of 379June 2026
Labor force participation48.2%Bottom 4%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$58,700Bottom 36%of 3812025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,330Bottom 33%of 3812025 OEWS
Metro employment72,300Bottom 35%of 3812025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)1.4%Top 1%of 379June 2026
Unemployment rate5.8%Top 8%of 379June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/065.82.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.8% 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 — Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers2,890$78,400
Retail Salespersons2,570$35,290
Cashiers2,470$34,350
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,080$33,350
Waiters and Waitresses1,840$36,670
Office Clerks, General1,660$45,760

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 $1,351 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 6.1 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
23.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,351
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$425,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income6.11Top 6%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate75.1%Top 19%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±213126,095Top 19%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$45$1,351Top 15%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,512$425,200Top 10%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.3%Top 7%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.8%Top 47%of 9352024 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
53/ 100
Top 46% 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 252,013 in 2024.

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

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 4% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 5.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
1,279
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.2
Top 24% nationally
Year over year
−35%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
4.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024252k237k
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

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 26°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 12.8 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PRESCOTT LOVE FLD, 9.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation12.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low26°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing38°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

15 / 100
Physical resilience

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

WildfireHigh
Inland floodingElevated
EarthquakeModerate
Heat waveModerate
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, winter weather, hail, landslide, volcanic activity, strong wind, tornado, drought, 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
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. 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. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 62 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Flagstaff PulliamFLG62 mi8,800 ft
Phoenix Deer ValleyDVT71 mi8,196 ft
ScottsdaleSDL79 mi8,249 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
42
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

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.