Phoenix vs Scottsdale

A side-by-side comparison of Phoenix and Scottsdale: population, income, housing, and more.

Phoenix and Scottsdale are places in Arizona. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Phoenix has the higher population (1,624,832 vs 242,169 in Scottsdale). Scottsdale has the higher median household income ($107,372 vs $77,041 in Phoenix). Scottsdale has the higher median home value ($709,900 vs $381,900 in Phoenix).

Population, income & housing

	Phoenix	Scottsdale
Population	1,624,832	242,169
Median age	34.8 yrs	49.2 yrs
Median household income	$77,041	$107,372
Median home value	$381,900	$709,900
Median gross rent	$1,458	$1,910
Housing units	642,867	138,422
Homeownership rate	57.1%	67.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	32.3%	61.5%
Unemployment rate	5.1%	3.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Phoenix	Scottsdale
Population	1,633,017 → 1,624,832 (-0.5%)	250,602 → 242,169 (-3.4%)
Median household income	$57,459 → $77,041 (+34.1%)	$88,213 → $107,372 (+21.7%)
Median home value	$235,400 → $381,900 (+62.2%)	$475,300 → $709,900 (+49.4%)
Median gross rent	$1,053 → $1,458 (+38.5%)	$1,365 → $1,910 (+39.9%)

Phoenix

Population

1,633,0171,624,832

Median household income

$57,459$77,041

Median home value

$235,400$381,900

Median gross rent

$1,053$1,458

Scottsdale

Population

250,602242,169

Median household income

$88,213$107,372

Median home value

$475,300$709,900

Median gross rent

$1,365$1,910

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Phoenix	Scottsdale
Under 5	6.1%	3.4%
5 to 17	18.0%	10.6%
18 to 24	9.9%	6.6%
25 to 34	16.3%	13.7%
35 to 44	14.1%	10.8%
45 to 54	12.5%	12.8%
55 to 64	11.2%	15.9%
65 to 74	7.4%	13.8%
75 and over	4.4%	12.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Phoenix	Scottsdale
White (non-Hispanic)	41.3%	78.7%
Black or African American	7.4%	1.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.4%	0.7%
Asian	3.8%	5.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.2%	0.1%
Some other race	0.4%	0.6%
Two or more races	3.6%	3.6%
Hispanic or Latino	41.8%	9.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Phoenix	Scottsdale
No high school diploma	15.6%	2.5%
High school graduate	23.1%	11.2%
Some college or associate's	29.0%	24.8%
Bachelor's degree	19.9%	37.1%
Graduate or professional degree	12.5%	24.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Phoenix	Scottsdale
Drove alone	66.1%	62.1%
Carpooled	10.9%	4.5%
Public transit	2.0%	0.4%
Walked	1.6%	1.7%
Bicycle	0.4%	0.7%
Worked from home	16.9%	29.0%
Other means	2.0%	1.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Phoenix	Scottsdale
1-unit, detached	59.9%	53.0%
1-unit, attached	4.7%	11.5%
2 to 4 units	6.2%	5.6%
5 to 19 units	10.9%	10.9%
20 or more units	15.3%	18.1%
Mobile home & other	3.0%	1.0%

Poverty & households

	Phoenix	Scottsdale
Poverty rate	14.3%	7.1%
Average household size	2.66	2.04
Mean commute (minutes)	26	22
Median year structure built	1984	1990