Best suburbs of Phoenix

We scored all 29 towns and communities of 10,000+ people in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metro area on what most people weigh when they pick a suburb: what homes cost compared with local pay, household income, poverty, commute times, education, homeownership and how many families with kids live there. Queen Creek, Anthem and Gilbert come out on top.

top 10 upper half lower half Phoenix. Dot size shows population.

The top 25

#	Place	Score	Population	Median home	Home vs income	Household income	Commute	Poverty	Miles away
1	Queen Creek, AZ	77	89,770	$635,400	4.5×	$141,978	31.1 min	3.7%	36
2	Anthem, AZ	69	22,584	$569,900	4.7×	$120,613	26.9 min	4.1%	19
3	Gilbert, AZ	68	287,285	$575,100	4.7×	$122,551	25.9 min	5.3%	27
4	Paradise Valley, AZ	65	12,251	$2,000,000+	8.1×	$247,159	20.7 min	5.5%	8
5	Goodyear, AZ	61	125,359	$471,300	4.6×	$103,319	29.6 min	5.2%	27
6	Buckeye, AZ	59	125,445	$419,800	4.2×	$99,486	33.3 min	8.0%	33
7	Chandler, AZ	58	278,748	$507,800	4.7×	$108,095	23.9 min	7.9%	24
8	Maricopa, AZ	57	78,362	$377,200	3.9×	$96,391	36.6 min	7.4%	37
9	San Tan Valley, AZ	54	109,189	$410,100	4.2×	$96,713	36.4 min	8.0%	41
10	New River, AZ	54	18,240	$640,600	4.8×	$134,289	34.0 min	6.3%	21
11	Surprise, AZ	52	175,304	$435,100	4.5×	$96,711	30.2 min	8.6%	22
12	Fountain Hills, AZ	52	23,625	$622,900	5.5×	$112,654	28.6 min	6.2%	20
13	Scottsdale, AZ	50	243,006	$789,800	7.1×	$110,886	21.6 min	7.3%	15
14	Gold Canyon, AZ	49	13,107	$508,100	5.4×	$93,377	32.8 min	3.8%	41
15	Casa Grande, AZ	48	69,753	$303,900	4.3×	$69,983	23.3 min	13.5%	50
16	Saddlebrooke, AZ	48	13,085	$498,700	5.6×	$88,686	33.2 min	5.4%	99
17	Peoria, AZ	47	200,881	$463,600	4.8×	$95,815	28.2 min	8.4%	19
18	Coolidge, AZ	47	19,959	$255,400	3.8×	$67,023	25.2 min	19.9%	55
19	Apache Junction, AZ	46	45,672	$211,500	3.5×	$60,975	28.1 min	10.6%	34
20	Florence, AZ	46	25,222	$346,300	4.3×	$79,644	30.9 min	6.9%	52
21	Avondale, AZ	44	100,983	$394,600	4.6×	$86,123	28.1 min	10.9%	23
22	El Mirage, AZ	43	35,820	$321,900	4.1×	$78,050	30.1 min	12.5%	14
23	Sun City West, AZ	42	27,425	$377,800	5.9×	$63,685	21.7 min	7.6%	17
24	Mesa, AZ	41	513,656	$408,000	4.9×	$82,752	24.7 min	10.3%	25
25	Sun Lakes, AZ	41	13,924	$455,200	6.7×	$67,853	20.5 min	9.4%	28

Show all 29 places

#	Place	Score	Population	Median home	Home vs income	Household income	Commute	Poverty	Miles away
26	Tempe, AZ	36	190,571	$455,400	5.7×	$79,663	20.9 min	15.8%	16
27	Sun City, AZ	34	37,486	$280,900	5.1×	$54,586	24.1 min	11.2%	12
28	Glendale, AZ	33	260,572	$387,500	5.3×	$73,530	27.7 min	15.1%	6
29	Eloy, AZ	30	19,967	$255,300	4.6×	$55,736	28.8 min	23.1%	64

Most affordable homes

Apache Junction 3.5 years of income, $211,500
Coolidge 3.8 years of income, $255,400
Maricopa 3.9 years of income, $377,200
El Mirage 4.1 years of income, $321,900
Buckeye 4.2 years of income, $419,800

Most families with kids

El Mirage 48.0% of households
Queen Creek 46.5% of households
San Tan Valley 43.5% of households
Avondale 41.7% of households
Gilbert 41.3% of households

How the score works

For each measure we rank the 29 places from worst to best within this metro area, then combine the ranks with these weights: home value compared with household income (20%), household income (15%), poverty rate (15%), average commute (15%), share of adults with a bachelor's degree (10%), homeownership (10%), households with children (10%) and population growth since 2020 (5%). Unincorporated communities have no official growth estimate, so they get the middle value for that part. A score of 100 would mean first on every measure.

Everything comes from the Census Bureau: the American Community Survey 2020-2024 and the 2025 population estimates. We leave out crime and school ratings because comparable official data for every town does not exist; check local school district and police data for the places on your shortlist.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best suburbs of Phoenix?

On our data-only score, Queen Creek, Anthem and Gilbert rank highest among 29 places of 10,000+ people in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metro area.

What is the most affordable suburb of Phoenix?

Apache Junction has the lowest ratio of median home value to household income (3.5 years), with a median home of $211,500.

Which Phoenix suburb has the shortest commute?

Sun Lakes, where the average commute is 20.5 minutes each way.

Back to the Phoenix city profile, or see the best suburbs of other big cities.

Places are incorporated cities, towns and villages plus census-designated places with 10,000 or more residents, assigned to the metro area by county (OMB 2023 delineations). Distances are straight lines from the center of Phoenix. The Census Bureau caps published medians at $250,000 for income and $2,000,000 for home values, shown with a plus sign.