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Place dossier plate
SheetAZ-MESA-AZ · Mesa, AZ 507,478 pop · income 60th pct · 95 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Mesa
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Mesa on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Tucson · lowest
54,546
Tucson · lowest
54,546 median HH income
44.9% of the leader · rank #1
Greenwood · near
78,765
Greenwood · near
78,765 median HH income
64.9% of the leader · rank #2
Mesa · this city
78,779
Mesa · this city
78,779 median HH income
64.9% of the leader · rank #3
South Euclid · near
78,782
South Euclid · near
78,782 median HH income
64.9% of the leader · rank #4
Palmer · near
78,789
Palmer · near
78,789 median HH income
64.9% of the leader · rank #5
Bellevue · near
78,792
Bellevue · near
78,792 median HH income
64.9% of the leader · rank #6
Gilbert · highest
121,351
Gilbert · highest
121,351 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Mesa on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 507,478.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Mesa - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Mesa places in the 60th percentile for household income and the 33rd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
60th
percentile, household income
74th
percentile, home value
64th
percentile, median rent
33rd
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Mesa, AZ
Arizona's Mesa is a mid-sized U.S. city, with 507,478 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $78,779 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.4%. Typical homes in Mesa are valued around $364,300, and the median resident age is 37.2 years. 31.5% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 62.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 2,735 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Rapid Growth), up 38% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 1947.3 crimes per 100,000 residents, near the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score).
Arizona tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 100.7 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,419 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Arizona run around $215, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Workers in Mesa report an average commute of 20.8 minutes, with 67.7% driving alone and 16.9% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 84.5 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Mesa's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from reported crime to comparison shortlist to within-city variation to population change to schools and households to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Mesa, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Mesa?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1947.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 15% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Which cities make useful reference points for Mesa?
Within Arizona, the closest population matches are Tucson (543,348 residents, $54,546 income); Chandler (278,123 residents, $103,691 income); Gilbert (271,118 residents, $121,351 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Kansas City, MO (508,233 residents); Atlanta, GA (499,287 residents); Sacramento, CA (524,802 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 95 Census tracts to this city.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +7,666 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2,735 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Mesa?
The NCES join finds 15 public schools within the city match. 31.5% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
15
Bachelor's degree+
31.5%
Poverty estimate
7.4%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Mesa?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Household income
$78,779
Home value
$364,300
Value / income
4.6×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 67.7%. The reported mean trip to work is 20.8 minutes.
Public transit
0.9%
Work from home
16.9%
Drive alone
67.7%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 247,191 workers age 16+.
Above median income · poverty 7.4% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
100.7 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Arizona average
D
City profile score · Mesa, AZ
44/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share C+
31.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C
$78,779
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate C-
7.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living F
100.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime F
483 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Mesa profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 61/100 (C+) · 31.5%
Household income: 58/100 (C) · $78,779
Poverty rate: 50/100 (C-) · 7.4%
Cost of living: 37/100 (F) · 100.7 index
Violent crime: 17/100 (F) · 483 /100k
Where Mesa sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Mesa's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Mesa highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Mesa, AZ (this city): home $364,300, crime 1,947/100k
Kansas City, MO : home $227,000, crime 6,223/100k
Sacramento, CA : home $484,600, crime 3,302/100k
Omaha, NE : home $230,100, crime 3,531/100k
Colorado Springs, CO : home $420,700, crime 4,164/100k
Fresno, CA : home $348,500, crime 4,007/100k
Tucson, AZ : home $242,200, crime 3,902/100k
Chandler, AZ : home $469,800, crime 1,638/100k
Gilbert, AZ : home $518,600, crime 1,100/100k
Glendale, AZ : home $347,000, crime 3,159/100k
Scottsdale, AZ : home $709,900, crime 2,028/100k
Peoria, AZ : home $429,400, crime 1,460/100k
How does Mesa compare to other US cities?
Mesa measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income60% higher than other cities
Home value74% pricier than other cities
Median rent64% pricier than other cities
Safety33% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Arizona alone, Mesa ranks #40 of 61 Arizona cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Mesa against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Arizona only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Arizona-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Mesa near the bottom of Arizona's cities
Among the 394 Arizona cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Mesa ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Mesa only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#69 of 333
79th percentile in Arizona
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 394
0th percentile in Arizona
Median Home Value
#61 of 327
81st percentile in Arizona
Poverty Rate
#220 of 393
44th percentile in Arizona
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#76 of 394
81st percentile in Arizona
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Arizona only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
60th percentile nationally for median household income · 33rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Mesa's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Mesa's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Mesa's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$364,30026th percentilemore affordable than 26% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Mesa's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,233 of 15,516
More affordable than 21% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#63 of 117
Large cities (200,000–999,999)
At 4.6×, Mesa sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,233 of 15,516 and #63 of 117large cities (200,000–999,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$78,779Mesa, AZ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Mesa, AZ median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Mesa, AZ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)31.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)62.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
507,478
Median Income
$78,779
Median Home Value
$364,300
Median Age
37.2
Poverty Rate
7.4%
Labor force participation
62.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
31.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1947.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
482.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1464.6
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
15
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Mesa's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
505,990 residents
2021
509,281 residents
2022
512,041 residents
2023
512,433 residents
2024
514,789 residents
2025
513,656 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
2,735
housing units authorized
Single-Family
1,367
detached homes
Multifamily
1,368
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
5.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1,985
1,710
275
$513.5M
2020
4,484
2,826
1,658
$974.5M
2021
4,635
2,046
2,589
$1099.6M
2022
3,668
1,536
2,132
$947.1M
2023
2,162
770
1,392
$657.2M
2024
2,735
1,367
1,368
$913.4M
Permit volume increased 38% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
20.8 minutes
Drive Alone
67.7%
Carpool
11.0%
Public Transit
0.9%
Walk
1.4%
Work from Home
16.9%
Other
2.1%
Based on 247,191 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Arizona statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $215
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Arizona at $215 (electricity about $131 , water and sewer about $50 ).
These are Arizona statewide averages, not a meter reading for Mesa. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Arizona's BEA cost-of-living index is 100.7 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Mesa is $1,419/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Arizona statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 84.5 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Arizona statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Mesa sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Mesa compares to similar-size Arizona cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.