Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ

Metro Area Profile

125,566 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ metropolitan area.

41out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 2% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity376th of 379 published metros17
Growth536th of 821 published metros41
Housing affordability557th of 822 published metros88
ClimateTop 40% of 822 published metros70
Physical resilience764th of 822 published metros18
Access704th of 822 published metros52
Economic stability704th of 822 published metros24
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published metro profiles: unemployment is 6.9% and the Opportunity signal places Sierra Vista-Douglas in the bottom 1%.

406 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 2% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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

At a glance

Population
125,566
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$59,742
Bottom 26% nationally
Density
20/sq mi
6209.9 sq mi of land
Median age
43.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ
Nearest major airport
TUS
71 mi · Tucson Intl
Median home value
$218,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

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

Employment fell 6.1% over the past year, to 42,308 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,950$59,742Bottom 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$997$33,002Bottom 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate15.4%Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.6 minTop 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher28.1%Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment42,308Bottom 6%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-7.9%Bottom 1%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-6.1%Bottom 4%June 2026
Labor force45,431Bottom 7%June 2026
Labor force participation49.4%Bottom 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$62,770Top 37%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,050Bottom 42%2025 OEWS
Metro employment33,970Bottom 3%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)1.5%Top 1%June 2026
Unemployment rate6.9%Top 4%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.93.6
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 — Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Cashiers1,150$31,570
Retail Salespersons1,060$33,140
General and Operations Managers1,040$78,740
Fast Food and Counter Workers740$30,580
Detectives and Criminal Investigators730$108,350
Stockers and Order Fillers690$36,530

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 $995 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.7 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
20.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$995
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$218,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.65Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate71.0%Top 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±11559,666Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$49$995Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,622$218,300Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.0%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate14.6%Top 30%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 536 of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is broadly steady, 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 125,773 in 2024.

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

At 3.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
406
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.2
Top 40% nationally
Year over year
−2%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024126k125k
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

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 11.8 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DOUGLAS BISBEE INL AP, 28.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation11.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing35°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

18 / 100
Physical resilience

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

WildfireHigh
Inland floodingElevated
DroughtModerate
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, lightning, earthquake, strong wind, landslide, hurricane, winter weather, hail, 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

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 71 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Tucson IntlTUS71 mi10,996 ft
Deming MuniDMN124 mi8,018 ft
Mesa GatewayIWA149 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
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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.