Living in Peoria, AZ

Maricopa County

Peoria's identity is genuinely distinct from the East Valley cluster (Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale) already covered elsewhere in this dataset -- a real northwest-valley anchor, not an interchangeable Phoenix suburb. The clearest, most verifiable anchor is spring-training baseball: the Peoria Sports Complex is the current Cactus League home of the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners, and it was the very first MLB spring-training facility ever shared by two teams -- a genuine historical first, not a marketing claim, and one that has since become the norm for new Cactus League construction. The second real, distinct anchor is a substantial, currently-under-construction semiconductor investment: Amkor Technology broke ground in October 2025 on a two-phase, $7 billion advanced-packaging-and-test campus at the Peoria Innovation Core (up from a smaller original plan, a 250% increase), on track to become the largest and most advanced outsourced semiconductor packaging plant in the US with up to 3,000 jobs at completion -- positioned roughly 15 minutes from TSMC's much larger north-Phoenix fab campus, giving Peoria a real "adjacent to TSMC" supplier-hub identity distinct from Chandler's Intel-anchor identity documented elsewhere in this dataset. Healthcare is a third real anchor, with HonorHealth's new $70 million cancer-care campus (opened April 2025) joining Banner Health's existing area hospitals. Demographically, Peoria skews genuinely older (median age 41.7 vs. Gilbert's 36.1) and somewhat less affluent (median household income $95,815 vs. Gilbert's $122,551) than its East Valley counterparts in this dataset, with a real, uncommon-for-the-metro water-recreation amenity in the 25,000-acre Lake Pleasant Regional Park. Crime data reads favorably (CrimeGrade cites a 46%-below-national-average overall rate and an A- grade, with all 7 studied neighborhoods grading A- or higher), though NeighborhoodScout's separate, higher reading is disclosed rather than smoothed over. As with the rest of the Phoenix metro, this is a low-desert market: extreme summer heat, monsoon-season flash flooding and dust storms, and Arizona's 2.5% flat state income tax (not a no-income-tax framing) all apply here as described in this dataset's Arizona state record. Peoria's combined sales tax rate is genuinely higher and more location-dependent than Gilbert's -- ranging roughly 8.1%-9.3% depending on the specific taxing district within the city, following a 0.5-percentage-point city tax increase effective July 2025.

Explore Peoria in depth

• Moving to Peoria: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in Peoria
• Housing Market in Peoria
• Buying a Home in Peoria
• Renting in Peoria
• Taxes in Peoria
• Homeowners Insurance & Natural Hazard Costs in Peoria
• Climate & Weather in Peoria
• Jobs & Economy in Peoria
• Schools in Peoria
• Crime & Safety in Peoria
• Healthcare in Peoria
• Traffic & Transportation in Peoria
• Best Areas to Live in Peoria
• Pros and Cons of Living in Peoria
• Retiring in Peoria
• Who Should / Shouldn’t Move to Peoria

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Families and buyers drawn to a genuine spring-training/baseball-fan identity, real semiconductor-industry and healthcare job growth distinct from the East Valley's Intel-anchored economy, a comparatively strong safety record, and uncommon-for-the-metro lake access at Lake Pleasant Regional Park -- a real northwest-valley alternative to the East Valley cluster covered elsewhere in this dataset.

Maybe not for you if: Buyers assuming Peoria's tax and cost profile mirrors Gilbert's or another already-built Arizona market in this dataset should note the genuinely higher, more location-dependent combined sales tax rate found in this research; commuters who need direct light rail access should note none reaches Peoria; and buyers prioritizing the single highest school-district rankings in the Phoenix metro should weigh Peoria Unified's more middling individual-school rankings against the East Valley districts covered elsewhere in this dataset.