Prescott, AZ — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Arizona·Prescott

Yavapai County · Prescott Valley-Prescott · population 48,224

Prescott, AZ
Image: Wikipedia · Prescott, Arizona
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
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61
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Prescott stands

Steady, no major recent move.

Median home $603,256
1-year -0.5%
5-yr CAGR +4.6%
vs 5-yr peak -3.1%
Population +1.3%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-07$603k$298k$415k$531k$648k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
32/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
22/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
78/100
Strong remote-work fit
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,885/mo$1,562$1,798$2,034202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent111113100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 26.7
Rent

At a 26.7 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in Prescott for most shorter holds. The premium you pay to own would take many years of rent savings to recoup, and that's before maintenance, taxes, and opportunity cost on the down payment.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
48 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
63 · w22%
Distance from peak
71 · w18%
Population growth
69 · w16%
Rent YoY
47 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
71 · w10%
Long thesis

Prescott has held up across the cycle: home values at $603,256 with +4.6% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Prescott's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About Prescott

Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, with an estimated population of 48,224. It anchors the Prescott Valley-Prescott metro area. The population grew 1.3% annually from 2020 to 2024, a moderate gain. The median home value in Prescott is $603,256 as of 2026-04, down 0.5% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +4.6% annual growth (-3.1% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Prescott average $1,885 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+0.2%). The composite momentum score is 61 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Net positive migration: population up 1.3% per year — demand fundamentals are intact.
○The data is the data: Prescott has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Prescott (Wikipedia)

Prescott is a city in and the county seat of Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. As of 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Yavapai County right now.

NWS active alerts (AZ)Arizona Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Yavapai County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods of Prescott

2 tracked · ranked by median home value
1Gail Gardener$437,293-2.5%
2Dexter$342,279-4.7%

Cities like Prescott

Oro Valley, AZ61 · StableLake Havasu City, AZ57 · StablePrescott Valley, AZ63 · RisingPayson, AZ61 · Stable

Run the numbers for Prescott

ToolCan I afford Prescott?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Prescott rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Prescott to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolPrescott cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
65° / 41°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
106° / 79°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
286
~78% of year
Annual precip
14″ rain
2″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Very low
Wildfire
High
Earthquake
Low
Flood
Low

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Prescott listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Prescott Valley-Prescott area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
36%
Very dry climate
Median household income
$72,900
Arizona state median
Top industries (state-level)
HealthcareConstructionTech

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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