Cost of Living & Housing in Bisbee
Bisbee runs genuinely affordable by national standards, though home sale prices carry an unusually wide, disclosed spread across sources and months -- a real feature of a small, low-transaction-volume housing market, not an error to be papered over.
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Learn moreHousing Prices -- Affordable, But Genuinely Volatile Month to Month
Cited median sale prices ranged from $209,000 (trailing month ending roughly November 2025, down 13.8% year over year) to $325,000 (single-family specific, June 2026, with 'strong year-over-year appreciation') to $359,000 (listed median, July 2026). This wide spread likely reflects Bisbee's low sales volume -- one snapshot cited roughly 145 active listings against only 11 closings -- and a shifting mix of property types (condos and multi-unit versus single-family homes). Every cited figure still positions Bisbee as affordable relative to the national median; budget with a range in mind rather than a single number.
Property and Sales Taxes
No Bisbee-specific effective property tax rate was independently found this session; Cochise County's county-wide median effective rate is 0.87%, below the national median of roughly 1.02%. The combined sales tax runs high (9.6% per one source, 10.1% per another, disagreeing on the county-level component specifically) -- consistent with Arizona's statewide pattern. Arizona's flat 2.5% state income tax applies here as it does statewide -- a real, not-zero state income tax.
Overall Cost of Living
A cost-of-living index of 85.7 (100 = U.S. average, as of December 2024) puts Bisbee below the national average. Median household income is cited at $47,613, with a real, disclosed poverty-rate disagreement across sources (15.16% to 21.2%) -- weigh the below-national cost figures against these income figures rather than reading affordability in isolation. Median rent is cited at $815/month.
Elevation Adds a Real Cost-of-Comfort Dimension
Bisbee's 5,300-5,538 ft elevation (higher than Denver's 5,280 ft 'mile-high' mark) means genuinely lower summer cooling costs than the Phoenix/Tucson low desert -- summer days rarely top the upper 80s°F -- though winters run correspondingly cooler and heating needs should be budgeted accordingly; no specific Bisbee utility-cost figure was independently confirmed this session.
Key takeaways
- Median home sale price carries a genuinely wide, disclosed spread ($209,000-$359,000) across sources and months, reflecting Bisbee's low transaction volume -- every figure still runs affordable relative to the national median.
- No Bisbee-specific property tax rate was found; Cochise County's county-wide effective rate (0.87%) runs below the national median, but the combined sales tax is high (9.6%-10.1%).
- Arizona's flat 2.5% state income tax applies here -- a real, not-zero state income tax.
- Bisbee's cost-of-living index (85.7) runs below the national average, though a real, disclosed poverty-rate disagreement (15.16%-21.2%) across sources tempers a simple 'cheap and easy' read.
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