Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Flagstaff's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Flagstaff?
Your $100,000 in Flagstaff has the same purchasing power as $96,787 in the average US city. You'd need $3,213 more 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 Flagstaff's cost index of 103, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Flagstaff, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously lower-than-average crime numbers and the air is clean, not just clean-ish, plus 2 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Flagstaff reports about 2,994 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.
Flagstaff's air quality index averages about 41 — 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 Flagstaff is about 16 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.
53% of adults 25 and over in Flagstaff 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 Flagstaff'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.
Almost never. Flagstaff's winter average of about 47°F is too warm for snow most years. A measurable snowfall is the kind of event that closes schools and gets photographed for the local paper.
Barely. Winter in Flagstaff averages around 47°F — short, mild, mostly an excuse to break out a light jacket. Some plants don't even drop their leaves.
Genuinely hot. Summer in Flagstaff averages about 105°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 10. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 10 or colder should survive a typical winter in Flagstaff. (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.)
Flagstaff sits at about 6,834 feet (2,083 m) above sea level. That's high enough that new arrivals from sea level should expect a real adjustment period: shorter breath, more water than usual, longer cooking times, and meaningful sun protection thanks to the thinner atmosphere.
Average for an American city. Flagstaff's reported crime rate of about 2,994 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. Flagstaff's cost-of-living index is 103, putting it in the band where rent, groceries, and utilities track the national norm. Not a bargain, not a premium.
Not really — Flagstaff is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 15 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Transit Score is 38 out of 100. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $72,324 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 Flagstaff runs about $1,469/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.