Relocating to Arizona
Your move, handled with intention.
From the high-cost coasts to the open desert, more people are choosing Arizona than ever before. Kelly F. Jones guides discerning buyers, families, and executives through every step from choosing the right community to closing the right home.
A different kind of life and a smarter one.
Arizona has quietly become one of the most compelling places in the country to live well. Lower housing costs than the coasts, a tax climate built for the financially deliberate, and roughly 300 days of sunshine a year. For buyers leaving California, Washington, Oregon, and the Midwest, the math and the lifestyle finally agree.
Year-Round Sunshine
Roughly 300 sunny days a year and mild, walkable winters from October through April. Outdoor living that lasts ten months, not three.
A Tax Climate That Rewards You
A flat 2.5% state income tax, no tax on Social Security income, and no estate or inheritance tax. Among the most competitive in the West.
Exceptional Value
Outdoor Living, Elevated
Sonoran preserves, 200+ golf courses, and mountain trails minutes from the front door, with Sedona and Flagstaff a short drive north.
A Diversifying Economy
Semiconductors, healthcare, finance, and tech anchor the Valley, including Intel, TSMC, American Express, Banner Health, and Mayo Clinic among them.
Room to Grow
Phoenix is among the fastest-growing major metros in the nation, with new master-planned and luxury communities rising across the Valley.
300
2.5%
200+
0.6%
Eight ways to live in Arizona.
Arizona is not one place. The right fit depends on how you want your days to feel gated and private, walkable and social, family-anchored, or quiet and elevated. A look at the communities buyers ask about most.
Scottsdale
The benchmark for luxury living.
North Scottsdale estates, golf communities, and Old Town’s walkable dining and arts backed by addresses like DC Ranch and Silverleaf.
For luxury buyers & executives
Paradise Valley
The Southwest's most private enclave.
Exclusively single-family, no commercial development, estates on generous lots with mountain views. Quiet, gated, discreet.
For privacy-first HNW buyers
Phoenix
The cultural and economic heart.
A vast, varied city from the Biltmore corridor to revitalized Midtown, where most of the Valley’s work and culture lives.
For professionals seeking range
Arcadia
For walkable neighborhood character
Irrigated citrus lots, ranch-style architecture, and walkable access to the Valley’s best dining beneath Camelback Mountain.
For luxury buyers & executives
Chandler
The Valley's innovation hub.
For tech & finance families
Gilbert
Family living, done right.
Master-planned communities, top-rated districts, and a genuine town center are among the best places to raise a family.
For families & schools
Tucson
A slower, southern pace.
For value buyers & retirees
Flagstaff
Four seasons, pines, and snow.
At 7,000 feet, a true four-season mountain town with cool summers, winter snowfall, and pine forest, two hours from Phoenix.
For cooler, second-home living
Everything you need, in one place.
The details decide whether a move feels effortless or overwhelming. These guides cover what matters most and grow as your questions do.
Cost of Living
Arizona Taxes
Moving Checklist
Housing Market
Schools
Healthcare
Neighborhood Guides
Lifestyle
Download Your arizona relocation guide
Mornings on the trail. Evenings under desert light.
The reason people stay isn’t the spreadsheet; it’s the life. Golf at sunrise, lunch beneath the citrus, an afternoon at a resort spa, dinner in Old Town, and a sky that performs every evening. Arizona rewards people who want to live outdoors, on their own terms.
The course is an extension of the home.
More than 200 courses across the Valley, many carved into the desert with mountain backdrops. Add the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, Camelback Mountain, and South Mountain world-class trails minutes from your door, playable year-round.
Weekends that feel like travel.
A concentration of five-star resorts and spas, alongside a genuine culinary rise of celebrated chefs, a farm-to-table movement, and the museums and festivals of Phoenix and Scottsdale.
Designed around the lifestyle.
Guard-gated enclaves built for how you actually live: DC Ranch, Silverleaf, and Troon with resort amenities, privacy, and architecture that belongs to the desert.
Roughly 300 days of sun. A landscape like nowhere else.
Meet Kelly
I made this move myself.
[Personal story placeholder Kelly’s own relocation to Arizona, in her voice. Where she came from, why she chose Arizona, what she learned, and how that experience shapes the way she guides clients. This first-person story is the trust engine of the page.]
Having made the move herself, Kelly understands relocation from both sides of the experience, the spreadsheet and the second-guessing, the logistics, and the landing. That perspective is what clients remember.
Resources to make the move clear.
Practical tools to plan with confidence are built out continually as the relocation library grows.
Relocation Guides
Browse →
Checklists
State Comparisons
Cost Calculator
Neighborhood Maps
The Difference
A relationship, not a transaction.
01
Local Expertise
Deep, current knowledge of Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, and Arcadia, the communities, the inventory, and the trade-offs that don’t show up online.
02
Luxury Market Fluency
Experience with estate-level and gated properties, jumbo financing realities, and discreet, off-market opportunities.
03
End-to-End Support
Guidance from the first call to closing day, the neighborhood matching, timing the sale of your current home, and coordinating the move.
04
Concierge-Style Guidance
Introductions to lenders, movers, and the people who make a landing soft. One trusted point of contact, start to finish.
Common Questions
Relocating to Arizona — answered.
Why are people moving to Arizona?
Lower housing costs than coastal markets, a favorable tax climate, roughly 300 days of sunshine, and a fast-growing, diversifying economy. Phoenix is consistently one of the fastest-growing major metros in the country.
Is Arizona a good place to live?
For most relocating buyers, yes, especially those leaving higher-cost coastal states. The combination of housing value, tax structure, climate, and outdoor access is difficult to match at the same price point elsewhere.
What is the cost of living in Arizona?
Arizona’s overall cost of living runs modestly below the national average, though it varies sharply by city from value-focused Tucson and Gilbert to luxury Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.
Does Arizona have a state income tax?
Yes, a flat 2.5% rate, one of the most competitive in the West. It undercuts high-tax states like California and Oregon substantially.
Are Arizona property taxes high?
No. Effective rates average roughly 0.55%–0.65% of assessed value , among the lowest in the West and well below states like Texas or Illinois.
Is Social Security taxed in Arizona?
No. Arizona does not tax Social Security income, and there is no state estate or inheritance tax, a meaningful draw for retirees.
What are the best places to live in Arizona for luxury buyers?
Where should families relocate in Arizona?
Is Arizona a good place to retire?
What is the weather like in Arizona?
How hot does Arizona get in summer?
What is the Arizona housing market like right now?
How are the schools in Arizona?
How is healthcare in Arizona?
Excellent in the Phoenix metro, anchored by Mayo Clinic, Banner Health, HonorHealth, and Dignity Health, comparable to most major U.S. metros.
How do I start the process of relocating to Arizona?
Begin by identifying the community and price range that fit your life, then connect with a local specialist early. Kelly F. Jones guides buyers through neighborhood selection, financing, and the move itself start with a consultation.
Let's find your place in Arizona.
Whether you’re a year out or ready now, a short conversation is the best place to begin. Share where you’re coming from and what you’re looking for — Kelly will map the rest.
