City · Maricopa County, Arizona

Glendale, Arizona

Glendale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, part of the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metro area. It has 252,833 residents. Glendale, Arizona has a quality-of-life score of 18 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,768 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arizona it ranks #117 of 207 cities and towns. It ranks best on new business applications (high), comfortable days (high) and effective property tax rate (low). It ranks worst on hot days (high), public libraries (low) and high ozone days (high).

18Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,768 of 15,651 cities and towns
Arizona: #117 of 207 in AZ
Population: 252,833 (2020-2024)
Land area: 67 mi²
Density: 3,757.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 0427820

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety15#13,235/15,637
Economy44#8,813/15,631
Housing17#12,464/14,977
Health50#7,751/15,609
Healthcare50#7,750/15,650
Environment14#13,232/15,453
Education20#12,535/15,649
Infrastructure24#11,872/15,650
Community41#9,247/15,651
Leisure & amenities38#9,641/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Glendale, Arizona ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Maricopa County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

New business applications · high21.0 /1k
92/100Arizona 17.8 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauMaricopa County value
Comfortable days · high33.6%
92/100Arizona 31.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationMaricopa County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.45%
91/100Arizona 0.48%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Depression · low19.4%
85/100Arizona 20.0%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Distance to an emergency room · low3.6 mi
84/100Arizona 5.7 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMaricopa County value
Average weekly wage · high$1,468
81/100Arizona $1,402United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMaricopa County value

Weaknesses

Hot days · high164 days
1/100Arizona 96 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationMaricopa County value
Public libraries · low0.1 /10k
1/100Arizona 0.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesMaricopa County value
High ozone days · high41 days
2/100Arizona 27 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyMaricopa County value
Median Air Quality Index · high73
3/100Arizona 642025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyMaricopa County value
Drug overdose deaths · high38.2 /100k
4/100Arizona 35.9 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataMaricopa County value
Days with unhealthy air · high10.4%
4/100Arizona 7.6%2025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyMaricopa County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.8% (2015-2019) → 88.6% (2020-2024)
+8.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedWorsening
2.9 /1k (2021) → 1.7 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−41%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.9× (2015-2019) → 5.3× (2020-2024)
+35%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateImproving
27.0% (2015-2019) → 20.2% (2020-2024)
−6.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$55,020 (2015-2019) → $73,530 (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
51.9% (2015-2019) → 58.4% (2020-2024)
+6.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Glendale, Arizona improved on 6 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 5. 3 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved6

Child poverty−6.8 points27.0% → 20.2%
Poverty−3.1 points18.2% → 15.1%
Inequality−0.0230.453 → 0.430
Household income+34%$55,020 → $73,530
Broadband+8.8 points79.8% → 88.6%

Declined5

Price / income+1.4×3.9× → 5.3×
Rent / income+3.4 points31.0% → 34.4%
Uninsured+1.4 points13.8% → 15.2%
Rent burden+6.6 points51.9% → 58.4%
Transit use−1 points2.3% → 1.3%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Glendale, Arizona between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	28.7 min2015-2019	27.7 min2020-2024	−1.0 min	Within the margin of error	60%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.5%2015-2019	24.3%2020-2024	+2.7 points	Improved	49%
Broadband subscriptions	79.8%2015-2019	88.6%2020-2024	+8.8 points	Improved	54%
Child poverty rate	27.0%2015-2019	20.2%2020-2024	−6.8 points	Improved	74%
Effective property tax rate	0.68%2015-2019	0.45%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	63%
High school diploma or higher	83.1%2015-2019	84.5%2020-2024	+1.4 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Home price to income ratio	3.9×2015-2019	5.3×2020-2024	+1.4×	Declined	12%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4532015-2019	0.4302020-2024	−0.023	Improved	70%
Median household income	$55,0202015-2019	$73,5302020-2024	+34%	Improved	63%
Poverty rate	18.2%2015-2019	15.1%2020-2024	−3.1 points	Improved	70%
Public transit commuters	2.3%2015-2019	1.3%2020-2024	−1 points	Declined	18%
Rent as share of income	31.0%2015-2019	34.4%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Declined	31%
Rent-burdened households	51.9%2015-2019	58.4%2020-2024	+6.6 points	Declined	33%
Unemployment rate	5.8%2015-2019	5.6%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	53%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	13.8%2015-2019	15.2%2020-2024	+1.4 points	Declined	31%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Glendale, Arizona five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Glendale, Arizona in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Glendale, Arizona itself moved −1 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

252,833 residents (±112)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

88,633 households (±1,271)

Glendale, Arizona
Arizona share

Under $25k14%12,218
$25k–50k18%15,659
$50k–75k19%17,244

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

88,633 households (±1,271)

Glendale, Arizona
Arizona share

Own57%50,679
Rent43%37,954

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Rent (−1.8 points).

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

121,805 workers (±2,012)

Glendale, Arizona
Arizona share

Drive alone67%82,113
Carpool13%15,614
Public transit1.3%1,632

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Maricopa County, the county holding most of Glendale's residents.

Maricopa County has 109,863 employer establishments, 239 for every 10,000 residents (0.96× the US rate of 248; 1.09× Arizona's), with 2,016,986 paid employees at an average annual pay of $65,314. The Census Bureau also counts 420,481 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 109,863; 420,481 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 239; US 248 · Arizona 219
Paid employees: 2,016,986
Average annual pay: $65,314; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Maricopa County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	11,860	25.8	1.24×About typical	131,970	$72,180	22,768
Lessors of real estate	8,251	17.9	1.46×More than typical	37,293	$76,781	45,302
Restaurants and other eating places	7,900	17.2	0.93×About typical	179,839	$25,808	1,950
Specialty trade contractors	6,622	14.4	0.93×About typical	107,212	$70,604	23,399
Real estate agents and brokers	4,624	10	2.06×More than typical	9,877	$93,622	16,762
Management, scientific and technical consulting	4,138	9	1.34×More than typical	33,045	$84,043	17,938
Limited-service restaurants	3,860	8.4	1.05×About typical	81,774	$22,315	824
Offices of physicians	3,779	8.2	1.27×More than typical	39,371	$105,755	4,285
Offices of other health practitioners	3,666	8	1.31×More than typical	22,356	$49,887	9,901
Services to buildings and dwellings	3,153	6.9	1.02×About typical	37,322	$40,356	22,259
Building equipment contractors	2,833	6.2	1.02×About typical	51,557	$75,801	4,982
Full-service restaurants	2,789	6.1	0.79×Fewer than typical	79,564	$30,528	749

Rank places for an industry Open Maricopa County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 4,601,077 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $68.5M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Glendale, Arizona: $271 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $68.5M; −33% vs FY2025
Per resident: $271; US $1,994
Sole-source: 15%; US 30%
Single offer: 2.3%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Air Force$55.3M81%
Defense Health Agency$5.1M7.4%
Department of the Army$3.3M4.9%
National Aeronautics and Space Administration$1.7M2.6%
Department of the Navy$1.3M1.9%
Defense Commissary Agency$551.1K0.8%
Bureau of Reclamation$402.6K0.6%
Federal Acquisition Service$394.1K0.6%

Top recipients

CCI GROUP, LLC$24.2M35%
ADVANCED CONCEPTS ENTERPRISES, INC.$11.5M17%
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.$3.3M4.9%
DELAWARE RESOURCE GROUP OF OKLAHOMA LLC$2.7M4.0%
THE CENTERS FOR HABILITATION/TCH$1.9M2.7%

Spending by fiscal year

118.5MFY2017
127.9MFY2018
67.9MFY2019
126.2MFY2020
112.2MFY2021
139.5MFY2022
222.6MFY2023
158.2M

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonresidential building construction · 2362$24.6M36%
Technical and trade schools · 6115$10.4M15%
Offices of physicians · 6211$3.4M4.9%
General medical and surgical hospitals · 6221$3.3M4.8%
Other professional, scientific, and technical services · 5419$2.8M4.0%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Glendale, Arizona

COMMAND AND CONTROL CONTRACT ACADEMIC TRAINING, COURSEWARE DEVELOPMENT AND DISTANCE LEARNING SERVICE CONTRACT AWARD$56.5M
ADVANCED CONCEPTS ENTERPRISES, INC.· Maricopa County, AZ· Education & social services· Jul 27, 2020 – Apr 6, 2026· FA489020C0013
SPARROW RFROG$49.1M
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.· Maricopa County, AZ· Research & development· Jun 3, 2020 – Apr 7, 2026· FA945320C0013
SQUADRON 6TH AMU FACILITY, LUKE AFB, AZ$31.5M
HHI CORPORATION· Maricopa County, AZ· Construction & real property· Aug 16, 2023 – Mar 24, 2026· W912PL23C0016
THIS PROJECT PROVIDES FOR THE PERSONNEL, LABOR, TOOLS, MATERIALS, AND EQUIPMENT NECESSARY TO RENOVATE THE SPECIAL ACCESS PROGRAM FACILITY (SAPF) AREA OF BUILDING 617 TO HOUSE THE NEW MODIFIED MISSION REHEARSAL TRAINERS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SOW.

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Glendale, Arizona, so they do not add up across cities.

Glendale, Arizona's figures are part of those of Maricopa County, AZ ($11.6B in FY2026), never added to them: 0.6% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Glendale is mostly in Maricopa County.

See federal money in Maricopa County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Glendale, Arizona is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Maricopa County58100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ54

Other cities and towns in Maricopa County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/0427820

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends