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Towns / Arizona

Sun Lakes, Arizona

Sun Lakes is an unincorporated community of about 13,900 people in Maricopa County, Arizona, in the Phoenix area. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 6.7 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Phoenix, is about 28 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Phoenix

Population
13,924
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$455,200
Maricopa County prices up 6% since 2022
Household income
$67,853
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Phoenix area
103.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
5 miles
Chandler, AZ
To Phoenix
28 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 3.3% above the U.S. average in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 6.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town2 public schools. No public high school in town: the nearest is Basis Chandler, about 2 miles away.
  • A hospital close byBanner Ocotillo Medical Center in Chandler, about 5 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPhoenix is about 28 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Sun Lakes meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Sun Lakes runs into the built-up area around Phoenix (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$455,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 6%Maricopa County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,938 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$67,853U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
88%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,658 a yearArizona: $1,879
Homes built before 1940
1%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
13%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
103.3U.S. average = 100 (the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 6% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metro area, not Sun Lakes alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
13,924The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
73.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
79%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
0%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
39%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (21%); finance, insurance and real estate (13%); professional and business services (11%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
21%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
9%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Banner Ocotillo Medical Center, Chandler, AZ, about 5 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Sun Lakes, run by Chandler Unified District #80 (4242). The nearest public high school is Basis Chandler, about 2 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Arizona's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
75%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
90%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
37°F
July average high
109°F
Days 90°F or hotter
183 a year
Nights at or below freezing
32 a year
Rain and melted snow
7.1 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
1,190 feet

Weather station: Maricopa 4 N (12 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Banner Ocotillo Medical Center, Chandler, Phoenix.

Maricopa County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Hohokam Pima National Monument2 miles
  • Casa Grande Ruins National Monument24 miles
  • Tonto National Monument52 miles

Read about Sun Lakes's history on Wikipedia.

Know Sun Lakes?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Goodyear Village, AZ (unincorporated)590 people, 1 mile
  • Wet Camp Village, AZ (unincorporated)397 people, 5 miles
  • Sweet Water Village, AZ (unincorporated)106 people, 7 miles
  • Lower Santan Village, AZ (unincorporated)289 people, 7 miles
  • Casa Blanca, AZ (unincorporated)1,697 people, 7 miles
  • Sacate Village, AZ (unincorporated)283 people, 8 miles
  • Upper Santan Village, AZ (unincorporated)234 people, 10 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.