A nationwide affordability analysis that ranked 800 U.S. cities has put Flagstaff at the top of Arizona’s list of least affordable housing markets. The research measured affordability by comparing local housing costs with average salaries for each state, estimating how many years someone earning the state’s average wage would need to work to purchase a typical home in a given city. Ten Arizona cities appeared on the full ranked list, but only one — Flagstaff — landed inside the study’s 100 least affordable markets nationwide.
Flagstaff was identified as Arizona’s least affordable city and sits at 43rd on the list of least affordable markets across the United States. Using Arizona’s average annual salary of $63,045 and the city’s average home metrics, the analysis estimates a typical Flagstaff residence has an estimated market value of $701,920 and an average size of 1,712 square feet. That calculation, combined with the prevailing income figure, produces an estimate that it would take roughly 11.1 years of average-state earnings to buy a home in Flagstaff. The study also reports an average price per square foot in Flagstaff of $410.
Downtown Flagstaff with the Babbitt Brothers sign and Hotel Monte Vista — Flagstaff was named Arizona’s least affordable housing market in the Compare the Market study.
Observers of Arizona’s housing landscape have noted Flagstaff’s longstanding reputation for having expensive and comparatively exclusive real estate, a pattern the affordability analysis makes quantitatively clear. The city’s combination of higher-than-average home prices and a typical home size that pushes overall valuations above many other Arizona communities are central to why the estimated time to purchase there is longer than in most parts of the state.
Across the state, the study used the same $63,045 average annual income to estimate how long it would take to buy a home in Arizona’s other less-affordable markets. The analysis lists Payson at the top of that state group after Flagstaff, with an estimated 8.2 years to buy a typical home at an estimated value of $518,736. Show Low follows at 8.1 years with a reported home value of $511,888. The Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area is shown at 7.4 years with an estimated average home value of $463,952. Lake Havasu is listed at 6.8 years and an estimated value of $431,424. The study places Tucson at 6.2 years with an estimated home value of $388,624, Yuma at 6.1 years with $386,912, Safford at 5.5 years with $344,112, Nogales at 5.4 years with $342,400, and Sierra Vista at 5.1 years with an estimated $321,856 home value.
A 'For Sale' sign in front of a single-family home, illustrating the housing market pressures and rising prices underlying Flagstaff’s affordability challenges.
The national picture produced by the same ranking highlights resort towns and coastal communities among the least affordable markets. At the top of the national list are Hailey, Idaho, where an average salary of $55,640 was set against an average home value of $1,610,092 to yield an estimated 28.9 years of salary required to purchase a home. Second place is Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, with an average pay of $80,330 and a listed average home value of $2,051,271 — a calculation that equates to roughly 25.5 years of earnings. Other locales in the study’s top 10 least affordable markets include Heber, Utah (23 years with a $1,404,858 home value), Key West, Florida (22.8 years with a $1,371,435 home value), and Breckenridge, Colorado (22.1 years with a $1,593,203 home value). Rounding out the top 10 are Kapaa, Hawaii (21.5 years, $1,401,180), Maui, Hawaii (20.6 years, $1,340,196), Steamboat Springs, Colorado (19.5 years, $1,401,299), Edwards, Colorado (18.8 years, $1,355,322), and Santa Barbara, California (17.5 years, $1,347,584).
The methodology behind the ranking combined state-level average income figures with locally reported home sizes, price-per-square-foot values and estimated home valuations to produce the multi-city comparison. By expressing affordability as the number of years of a state’s average salary needed to buy a typical home in each city, the study aims to standardize comparisons across diverse housing markets and income environments. Using that approach, the analysis surfaces how far larger home price tags and higher per-square-foot costs push purchase timelines upward in resort and in-demand communities.
The statewide breakdown and the national top-10 list together show that while several Arizona cities appear on the broader ranking of 800 U.S. markets, Flagstaff stands apart in the state when measured by how many years of average earnings it would take to reach homeownership. Ten Arizona communities made the full ranked list, and the calculations presented offer a snapshot of how local home values interact with statewide average pay to shape affordability in both Arizona and across the country.
A separate 2026 Affordable Housing Needs Assessment by Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona found Flagstaff maintains higher costs of living and housing than the national average, with more than a third of city households considered housing cost burdened.
The City of Flagstaff updated its 2026 Area Median Income (AMI) limits on May 1, 2026; the city’s AMI schedule (based on HUD data) shows a 50% (very low) AMI of $39,200 for a one-person household and an 80% (low) AMI of $89,600 for a four-person household.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s QuickFacts lists Flagstaff’s median household income (2020–2024, in 2024 dollars) at $71,512, which is notably higher than the $63,045 state average wage the Compare the Market study used in its Arizona affordability calculations.
Flagstaff’s Housing Authority also published an update showing its Section 8 payment standards were changed effective October 2, 2025, and the 2026 AMI figures are being used for federal program eligibility and local voucher administration.