City profile · Arizona · Census ACS 2023

Sun, AZ

Sun's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

38,018
Residents
$52,111
Median income
$259,800
Median home
$1,419
Median rent (state)
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Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.

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Starting with Sun, AZ - add up to three more cities on the compare page.

See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Sun.

Place dossier plate

Sheet AZ-SUN-AZ · Sun, AZ 38,018 pop · income 23rd pct

POP-SMALL · INC-MID · COL-PAR · SAFE-UNK · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-SMALL 38,018
  • INC-MID $52,111
  • COL-PAR 100.7
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-LOWER 23rd
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Crystal River
  • HOME-MID $259,800
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Crystal River, FL (+ $1 income $)

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 Sun

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Sun on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

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.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Sun on ACS population and median household income . 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: 38,018.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $52,111. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Sun - the verdict

Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Sun lands in the 23rd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.

23rd
percentile, household income
58th
percentile, home value
64th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Sun, AZ

Census ACS 2023 estimates count 38,018 residents in Sun, a small city within Arizona. Median household income here is $52,111 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 7.1%. Sun's housing stock carries a median value of $259,800, and the median resident age is 72.5 years. About 25.6% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 17.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,419 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $215 across Arizona, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 84.5 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (High).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Sun'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Sun, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares. No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

Question 1

Which cities make useful reference points for Sun?

Within Arizona, the closest population matches are Apache Junction (39,746 residents, $58,619 income); San Luis (35,998 residents, $57,364 income); El Mirage (35,823 residents, $74,764 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hot Springs, AR (38,023 residents); Adelanto, CA (38,010 residents); Riviera Beach, FL (38,032 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.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

2. Work and mobility

What does the journey to work look like in Sun?

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 67.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.

Compare commute patterns →

Question 3

How far does income reach against housing in Sun?

The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.1%, 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.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Population

38,018 residents

Small city (10k–49k)

Median Household Income

$52,111 /yr

Low income · poverty 7.1% (Below-median poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

100.7 (US=100)

Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Arizona average

City profile score · Sun, AZ

39/100

4 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.

Poverty rate C-
7.1%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Bachelor's+ share C-
25.6%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

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.

Household income F
$52,111

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Sun profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Poverty rate, Bachelor's+ share, Cost of living, Household income. Poverty rateBachelor's+ shareCost of livingHousehold income 39 F
Sun profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Poverty rate: 52/100 (C-) · 7.1%
  • Bachelor's+ share: 50/100 (C-) · 25.6%
  • Cost of living: 37/100 (F) · 100.7 index
  • Household income: 23/100 (F) · $52,111

How does Sun compare to other US cities?

Here's how Sun stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.

Household income 23% higher than other cities
Home value 58% pricier than other cities
Median rent 64% pricier than other cities

"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.

How we calculate these percentiles & ranks

Each percentile compares Sun 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 Sun near the bottom of Arizona's cities

Among the 394 Arizona cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Sun ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Sun only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#199 of 333
40th percentile in Arizona
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 394
0th percentile in Arizona
Median Home Value
#114 of 327
65th percentile in Arizona
Poverty Rate
#224 of 393
43rd percentile in Arizona
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#100 of 394
75th 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.

23rdIncome percentile
Gauge source note

23rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Sun's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$259,800 42nd percentile more affordable than 42% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Below this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). This entry sits in this band. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Sun $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

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

Sun's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.0×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,861 of 15,516
More affordable than 17% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,597 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)

At 5.0×, Sun sits in the moderate band: national rank #12,861 of 15,516 and #2,597 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999). 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

$52,111 Sun, AZ median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Sun, AZ Sun, AZ's median household income ($52,111) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Sun, AZ-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Sun, AZ median $52,111/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Sun, 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 Sun, AZ.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 25.6%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 7.1%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 17.4%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
38,018
Median Income
$52,111
Median Home Value
$259,800
Median Age
72.5
Poverty Rate
7.1%
Labor force participation
17.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
25.6%

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
67.2%
Carpool
7.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.5%
Work from Home
19.6%
Other
5.6%

Based on 6,393 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 Sun. 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 Sun 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 Sun sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Sun 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.

City Population Median Household Income
Sun (this city) 38,018 $52,111
Apache Junction 39,746 $58,619
San Luis 35,998 $57,364
El Mirage 35,823 $74,764
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, 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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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