Arizona city guide
Moving From California to Scottsdale, AZ
The Valley's luxury market and resort town, stretching from walkable Old Town to golf communities in the north, with the region's deepest high-end housing inventory.
Housing comparison
California versus Scottsdale, side by side
- Median home value
- $725,800
- $789,800
- Median annual property tax
- $5,114
- $2,875
- Median monthly cost, owners with a mortgage
- $2,844
- $2,577
- Population
- 39.0 million (state)
- 243,821
Figures are US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates for the city place. Property tax and monthly cost rows cover owner-occupied units with a mortgage, so they describe what current owners pay, not what a new buyer would pay at today's prices. California column is the statewide baseline used across this site.
Why Californians look at Scottsdale
Scottsdale is the one Phoenix-area city built from the start around resorts, golf, and a higher price point, and it still shows. It runs roughly 30 miles from the walkable bars and galleries of Old Town near the southern city line to gated golf communities and desert-mountain estates near the Carefree and Cave Creek borders in the far north.
It is also the closest thing in the Valley to a true luxury market, with home prices, resort infrastructure, and retail that outpace every other Phoenix suburb. That makes it the default landing spot for California sellers carrying substantial coastal equity who want to buy outright and never look at a mortgage again.
For everyone else, Scottsdale is worth entering with eyes open on price. It is the most expensive city in this state guide, and while it is still well below most of coastal California, it no longer offers the steep discount that smaller Valley suburbs do.
Scottsdale fits you if
- You are selling a California home with substantial equity and want to buy a comparable or better home outright.
- You want walkable Old Town living, golf, resort amenities, and a deep restaurant and gallery scene.
- You are retiring and want an active, higher-end community with strong healthcare access nearby.
- You want proximity to Scottsdale Airpark's business and aviation employment base.
Look elsewhere if
- You are working with a modest budget. Scottsdale's home prices sit well above every other city in this guide.
- You want a young, diverse, working-class community. Scottsdale's population skews older and wealthier than the Valley average.
- You dislike tourist and seasonal-resident traffic. Snowbird season from January through March brings visible congestion.
- You need a broad blue-collar or entry-level local job market.
Housing in Scottsdale
South Scottsdale near Old Town holds smaller, older ranch homes from the 1950s through 1970s, many now torn down and rebuilt or heavily renovated. North Scottsdale, from the Loop 101 corridor up through DC Ranch, Grayhawk, and Troon, is dominated by newer, larger homes and gated golf communities.
The ACS median home value for the city is $789,800, the highest of any city in this guide, with a median annual property tax bill of $2,875 and a median monthly owner cost with a mortgage of $2,577 for current owners. Luxury listings in north Scottsdale routinely run into the millions.
Inventory spans everything from condos and townhomes near the Airpark to sprawling desert estates, so the range within the city is wide even though the overall price floor is higher than the rest of the Valley.
Work and the local economy
Scottsdale Airpark, in the north-central part of the city, is one of the largest employment centers in Arizona, hosting corporate offices, aviation, and technology and financial services firms alongside the general aviation Scottsdale Airport itself.
Tourism and hospitality are a second major pillar, supported by dozens of resorts, golf courses, and spas that draw seasonal visitors and snowbirds, particularly from October through April.
Healthcare, professional services, and a growing base of corporate relocations round out the picture. Scottsdale's workforce is generally better paid and more white-collar than the Valley average, which shows up in the housing prices.
Climate and setting
Scottsdale spans a wide elevation range, from around 1,150 feet in the south to roughly 3,000 feet or higher in the far northern desert-mountain neighborhoods, so summer heat is somewhat less severe the farther north you go, though still intense everywhere in the city.
Summers bring long stretches above 105 degrees in the lower elevations, and winters are mild and dry with highs typically in the 60s and 70s, which is the basis of the resort season. Snow is essentially absent except on distant mountain views.
The winter and spring snowbird season brings a visible seasonal population increase, more traffic, and fuller restaurants, a trade residents accept in exchange for the tourism dollars that support much of the local economy.
Getting around, care, and schools
- Commercial air
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is about 15 to 25 miles away depending on the neighborhood; Scottsdale Airport serves general aviation.
- Highways
- Loop 101 runs along the west side of the city; Loop 202 and Pima Road provide additional arterial access.
- Hospital
- HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center and HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center.
- Public schools
- Scottsdale Unified School District, with several other districts serving edge neighborhoods.
- Higher education
- Scottsdale Community College; Arizona State University's main campus is about 15 miles southwest in Tempe.
- Setting
- Sonoran Desert city, elevation roughly 1,150 to 3,000-plus feet from south to north.
The trade-offs
- Home prices are the highest of any city in this guide, and the discount versus coastal California, while real, is smaller than elsewhere in the Valley.
- Snowbird season adds real seasonal traffic and reservations pressure from roughly January through March.
- Summer heat in the lower-elevation southern half of the city is as severe as anywhere in metro Phoenix.
- The city's median age and cost of living skew well above the Valley average, which shapes the kind of community you will find.
Other Arizona towns people compare
Gilbert
The East Valley's default family suburb, with top-rated public schools, low crime, and master-planned subdivisions built over the last three decades.
Peoria
West Valley value with Lake Pleasant recreation, spring training baseball, and a shorter run to Interstate 10 for the drive back to California.
Prescott
A mile-high mountain town 90 miles north of Phoenix, with four mild seasons, Ponderosa pine forest, and a retiree-heavy population that avoids the low-desert heat.
Tucson
Arizona's second-largest city, cheaper than Phoenix and several degrees cooler in summer, anchored by the University of Arizona and a defense and aerospace employment base.
Queen Creek
The fastest-growing town in the Southeast Valley, with the largest concentration of new-construction incentives in metro Phoenix and a school system still building to keep pace.
Statewide figures, tax detail, and the full Arizona picture are on the Arizona page. Compare property, income, and sales tax across all 49 destination states on Taxes, and see where Californians are actually moving on Stats.
Sources
- US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B25077 (median home value), retrieved via Census Reporter, September 3, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B25103 (median real estate taxes paid, owner-occupied units with a mortgage), retrieved September 3, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B25088 (median selected monthly owner costs, owner-occupied units with a mortgage), retrieved September 3, 2026.
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-Year Estimates, table B01003 (total population), retrieved September 3, 2026.
- City of Scottsdale, Airport Economic Benefit Study, scottsdaleaz.gov.
- HonorHealth, hospital locations, honorhealth.com.
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