Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Catalina Foothills's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Catalina Foothills?
Your $100,000 in Catalina Foothills has the same purchasing power as $104,668 in the average US city. You'd need $4,668 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Catalina Foothills's cost index of 96, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Catalina Foothills, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously housing is the bargain and paychecks here run high, plus 5 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Even if other categories track the national average in Catalina Foothills, housing comes in noticeably cheaper. Median rent is about $1,198/mo, and the housing sub-index lands at 92 (US avg = 100). That's where most of the day-to-day affordability difference shows up for newcomers.
Median household income in Catalina Foothills is $110,660 — well above the US median of roughly $75k. It's a city where high-paying industries (tech, finance, professional services) cluster, and the income distribution tilts noticeably upward relative to most of the country.
Unemployment in Catalina Foothills is running about 3.9% — below the typical US baseline of around 4%. That usually translates to a job market where employers compete for workers more than the other way around, which is the better side of that equation to be on if you're the one moving.
Catalina Foothills reports about 2,280 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — a step below the US average of around 3,500. The citywide number averages over neighborhoods that can vary a lot, but the headline number is friendlier than most American cities of comparable size.
Catalina Foothills's air quality index averages about 30 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Catalina Foothills is about 23 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
70% of adults 25 and over in Catalina Foothills hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Catalina Foothills's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Now and then. Catalina Foothills's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 42°F on average — so most of the precipitation falls as rain. A snowy morning happens a few times a season; sustained accumulation is rare.
Mild on the cold side. Catalina Foothills's winter average of about 42°F is the kind of weather where you want a jacket but the heating bill is manageable. Snow is rare, frost is occasional, and the lawn never really browns out.
Genuinely hot. Summer in Catalina Foothills averages about 100°F, and peak afternoons run well over a hundred. Outdoor plans move to mornings and evenings; AC is the most-used appliance in the house.
Approximately USDA Hardiness Zone 9. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 9 or colder should survive a typical winter in Catalina Foothills. (The estimate is derived from our winter-temperature data; the official USDA map uses station-level annual minimums and may differ by half a zone.)
Catalina Foothills sits at about 2,762 feet (842 m) — meaningfully higher than coastal cities, but not high enough to noticeably affect breathing or cooking.
Average for an American city. Catalina Foothills's reported crime rate of about 2,280 per 100,000 residents sits roughly in line with the US baseline of ~3,500. Like anywhere else, the citywide number masks real differences between neighborhoods — worth looking at specific areas before deciding.
Roughly average. Catalina Foothills's cost-of-living index is 96, putting it in the band where rent, groceries, and utilities track the national norm. Not a bargain, not a premium.
Not really — Catalina Foothills is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 8 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $66,878 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Catalina Foothills runs about $1,198/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.