A new report by Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona shows more than a third of Flagstaff residents are burdened by the cost of housing.
A resident is considered cost-burdened if at least 30% of their income goes to pay for housing.
According to the report, that applies to 56% of renters and 28% of homeowners.
And those numbers haven’t changed much since 2023.
The report also highlights what that means for residents in specific industries.
“A teacher — starting salary about $54,000 — what does that mean for an affordable rent? It's $1,343 a month. Are there lots of places that you can rent for that price? Not really,” says Housing Solutions’ CEO Devonna McLaughlin.
McLaughlin says the cost of living for a two-parent, two-child household in Flagstaff is $663 more a month than for the same-sized family in Phoenix.
Meanwhile, the average sale price for a home in Flagstaff has risen from $230,000 to $685,000 since 2011 — a nearly 200% increase while the median income grew by about 70%.
“You just start to realize that employment numbers and wages in our community, while they've been going up, still don't have the same renting power or buying power,” McLaughlin says.
McLaughlin says the report demonstrates that addressing housing affordability must remain a priority while highlighting that the tools local government and nonprofits have to make a difference are limited.
“It reflects the fact that so much of that housing market is outside direct control of governments or nonprofits. So, some of the unaffordability for homeownership-piece comes from increasing interest rates, for example. That's not something any of us here in Flagstaff really can control,” McLaughlin says.
