Town in Gila County, Arizona

Payson

$439kMedian Home
Loading Weather
View on MapPopulation15kElevation4,921 ft
Quick Read

Payson is a town in northern Gila County, Arizona, United States. Due to Payson's location being very near to the geographic center of Arizona, it has been called "The Heart of Arizona." Payson is also considered part of the colloquially defined Northern Arizona region, and the town serves as a gateway to the vast wilderness of the Colorado Plateau. The town is surrounded by the Tonto National Forest, the largest of the six national forests in Arizona—and the ninth largest national forest in the United States.

Arizona's Cool Mountain Town
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Where It Is

Location Context
Payson, Arizona
Latitude34.23°
Longitude-111.33°
Population15k
Altitude4,921 ft

State Context

ArizonaU.S. state

Arizona is a landlocked state in the Southwestern United States, sharing the Four Corners region with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the northwest and California to the west, and shares an international border with the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, which is the most populous state capital and fifth-most populous city in the United States. Arizona is divided into 15 counties.Wikipedia

Income tax: Flat 2.50%Avg sales tax: 8.37%Property tax: 0.51%Official school data available

About the Region

Desert Southwest

The Desert Southwest — Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico — shares a climate defined by heat, aridity, and extraordinary landscape. Phoenix has grown into one of the country's largest cities on the premise of air-conditioned suburban living, a bargain for decades that is being stress-tested by climate shifts pushing summer highs above 110°F and placing long-term water resources under pressure. Las Vegas offers Nevada's zero income tax and extraordinary entertainment infrastructure against the same water equation tied to a shrinking Colorado River.

Tucson, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe offer a different profile: human-scale cities with deep roots in Spanish colonial and Indigenous traditions, lower costs than their larger neighbors, and the landscape that draws artists, retirees, and outdoor enthusiasts. The region's sunlight is exceptional — Phoenix regularly exceeds 300 sunny days per year — and the cultural texture across New Mexico in particular is unlike anywhere else in the United States.

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Nature Access

Nature & Park Feeds

Closest protected landscapes, reserves, and big park systems surfaced from the same nearby feeds used in compare.

Distances in miles
Federal park feed

National Parks

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OpenStreetMap feed

Local Nature & Reserves

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Sources: National Park Service and OpenStreetMap
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City Profile

Median Age59 yrs
College Educated25%bachelor's or higher
Work From Home8%of workforce
Poverty Rate9%
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Cost of Living

Housing
$2k/mo
Median rent
$439k
Median home price
Rent burden37% of income
Household Income
$60k
Median annual
05

Livability

School Rating
8.2/10
Internet
No internet coverage data yet.
08

Current Conditions

10

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