Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Sierra Vista's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Sierra Vista?
Your $100,000 in Sierra Vista has the same purchasing power as $119,204 in the average US city. You'd need $19,204 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 Sierra Vista's cost index of 84, sorted by closest match.
Wondering whether you should move to Sierra Vista? It depends on what you're optimizing for, but the city has real arguments in its favor: your dollar carries more weight here and safer than the typical us city, plus 2 more things worth knowing. The data behind each is below.
Sierra Vista sits at 84 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 16% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $1,080/mo against a typical household income of $70,899, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Sierra Vista reports about 1,927 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.
Sierra Vista's air quality index averages about 42 — 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 Sierra Vista is about 18 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.
Reasons are pulled from Sierra Vista'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. Sierra Vista'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. Sierra Vista'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 Sierra Vista 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.
Sierra Vista falls in roughly USDA Zone 9. The zone classification is based on average annual minimum temperatures, so it's the right lookup for whether perennials and trees will overwinter here. Note that this is approximate from our winter-temperature data — check the USDA map for the exact zone before betting an expensive plant on it.
Sierra Vista is at about 4,613 feet (1,406 m) — high enough that newcomers from sea level sometimes feel a touch winded the first few days, dehydrate faster than expected, and notice that water boils a little quicker. Acclimation is usually a week or so.
By the numbers, yes. Sierra Vista reports roughly 1,927 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Sierra Vista's composite cost-of-living index is 84, roughly 16% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Not really — Sierra Vista is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 0 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 $58,723 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 Sierra Vista runs about $1,080/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.