While it is a desert city, those from outside of Phoenix will be amazed at what a beautiful city it is compared to other desert cities of the southwest. Being a relatively new city, you will find many master-planned communities with beautifully landscaped streetscapes and parks.

Phoenix is divided into fifteen urban villages and several districts. In this guide, we have created featured pages for several of the urban villages and districts within Phoenix. These are where we consider the best places to call home in Phoenix outside of the surrounding suburbs. You will find more information about each village or district and additional links to specific subdivisions in the Featured Villages and Districts section below.

This page is dedicated specifically to the City of Phoenix. Please see our other pages dedicated to the suburbs in Phoenix for more information about residing in cities and towns outside of Phoenix.

If you are relocating to Arizona from California or the Northeast, you will likely be shocked by how low our property taxes are compared to where you are moving from.  In fact, Arizona residents benefit from lower property taxes than the national average for all states.

In Phoenix, the average annual tax bill for a 2,000 square foot home is approximately $2,200. This will of course vary depending on the size of the lot, the size of the home, and special taxing districts, but it is a good rule of thumb to use as a baseline.

We can always help you understand the property tax bill for homes you are interested in purchasing and help you compare them to the surrounding area, including the other suburbs in Phoenix and similar property types.

The median household income in Phoenix was $47,886 and median family income was $54,804 as of the 2020 census. Phoenix is known for a low unemployment rate. Prior to the 2020 pandemic, unemployment was at 4.8%.

The top five industries in the region are real estate, finance and insurance, manufacturing, retail, and healthcare. The city is also home to many federal government jobs and would rank in second place above if it were considered an industry. Government employees make up approximately 11% of the total population.

The top five employment categories as of 2010 were office and administrative support, sales, food preparation and serving, transportation and logistics, and management. Retail workers make up approximately 4% of the workforce.

The top 10 employers in Phoenix are Banner Health, American Express, Honeywell, Amazon, Fry’s Food & Drug, Dignity Health, Chase, Bank of America, U-Haul, and Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

See a full list of top employers here.

Phoenix rests at the northern most edge of the Sonoran Desert and features a hot desert climate. The average year-round high temperature in Phoenix is 87 degrees and the average low is 63 degrees. Those not used to desert heat will find it dry and surprisingly comfortable since we do not experience high humidity and have air conditioning readily available everywhere.

The summer months (May to September) are very hot with temperatures regularly exceeding 100 degrees. We have very short fall and spring seasons and consider the winter to occur between October and April. Temperatures get close to freezing in the traditional winter months. With that said, the winter months in Phoenix are very satisfying and comfortable. Winters here are the main reason so many people love calling Phoenix home.

It may look dry due to the lack of natural rivers; however, at one time the Salt River and Gila River ran through the region untamed. They have since been dammed to form several reservoirs found north and east of the valley. These reservoirs now provide power and water, not to mention outdoor recreation, to the entire region.

Phoenix averages only 8 inches of precipitation per year and often experiences extended droughts, making water conservation an important issue in the city.

Phoenix has over 215 public elementary schools and 31 high schools, not including those in the suburbs. There are many charter schools and private schools available in addition to public schools.

Arizona State University, one of the largest public universities in the country, has a main campus in Tempe, AZ and satellite locations in Downtown Phoenix and Mesa, both of which have grown into very large campuses over the past two decades. The university is well known for business, engineering, biosciences, and political science studies.

Maricopa County has 10 community colleges, of which Phoenix College is in Central Phoenix. The community college districts offer two-year associate degree programs for students. Many students choose this path in lieu of a four-year degree program at the larger university or for the first two years before transferring to the university.

For business specialties, Thunderbird School of Global Management is located nearby in Glendale, AZ.

For medical specialities, the University of Arizona has a satellite campus within the Downtown Campus location of Arizona State University.

Freeways are prevalent and efficient in Phoenix. Unlike crumbling infrastructure on the east coast or cramped freeways on the west coast, Phoenix has excelled at building highways. Over the last three decades, as the city has expanded, Phoenix has done a phenomenal job of building new freeways to connect the city. Many of our highways form massive loops around the city, making it easy to get from one corner of the city to the other in under an hour by car. Two major interstates and a US highway cross through Phoenix, the I-10, I-17, and US-60, but numerous other state highways connect the region, namely Loop 101, Loop 202, Loop 303 and SR-51.

The city is served via air by Sky Harbor International Airport which is centrally located in the city and near the surrounding suburbs. Sky Harbor has a robust cross terminal linking system that connects to a rental car center and to the Phoenix Light Rail.

The city is not currently served by interstate rail systems. The closest place to catch an Amtrak train is south of the city in Maricopa, AZ. This station provides service on the Texas Eagle (Los Angeles to San Antonio to Chicago) and the Sunset Limited (Los Angeles to New Orleans) Amtrak trains.

The city is, however, served by the Phoenix Light Rail, a one-line rail system stretching 28 miles from Mesa in the east to Northwest Phoenix in the west. The light rail traverses through the main suburbs of Mesa and Tempe, and services East, Downtown, and Central Phoenix.

Valley Metro is a commuter bus system that services the Phoenix Metro Area with 102 bus lines and 6 express lines to Downtown Phoenix.

Phoenix is home to several sports franchises and is represented by all four major professional sports leagues. For basketball, we have the Phoenix Suns; they play in Downtown Phoenix at Footprint Center. For baseball, we have the Arizona Diamondbacks; they play in Downtown Phoenix at Chase Field. For football, we have the Arizona Cardinals; they play in Glendale, AZ at State Farm Stadium. For hockey, we have the Phoenix Coyotes; they play in Glendale at Gila River Arena. We also have a Professional Women’s Basketball team, the Phoenix Mercury who also play at Footprint Center in Downtown Phoenix, an Indoor Football League team, the Arizona Rattlers, who play at Footprint Center, and a Professional Men’s Soccer League team, the Phoenix Rising, who play at the Phoenix Rising Soccer Complex at Wild Horse Pass.

Phoenix is served by over 50 hospitals and medical centers. The largest hospital network in Phoenix is Banner Health, operating nearly half of the hospitals and medical centers in the region. The Phoenix Children’s Hospital is ranked nationally for numerous pediatric specialties. Barrow Neurological Institute at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Central Phoenix is the world’s largest dedicated neurosurgical center. Ranked one of the best hospitals for over two decades, The Mayo Clinic operates one of its world-renowned centers here in North Scottsdale.