7 Best Arizona Cities To Retire on $3,000 Per Month

Many seniors decide to spend their retirement in Arizona because the state doesn’t tax Social Security income and it benefits from warm weather year round. Best of all, there are several cities in Arizona where a monthly budget of $3,100 or less is enough money to fund a comfortable lifestyle.

To find the top Arizona cities to retire on a budget of $3,100 or less monthly, GOBankingRates sourced Zillow data to find every Arizona city with a monthly rent of $2,000 or less. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 Consumer Expenditure Survey was referred to for monthly grocery, healthcare and utility costs for people aged 65 and older. All eligible cities were required to have a livability score of 70 or higher, which was sourced from AreaVibes. Then the monthly costs were added to determine the top Arizona cities for retirement on a budget.

From most to least expensive in descending order, here are the seven best Arizona cities for your retirement.

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,702
• Livability: 72
• Average monthly grocery cost: $401
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $619
• Average monthly utilities cost: $372
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $3,094

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,666
• Livability: 78
• Average monthly grocery cost: $407
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $619
• Average monthly utilities cost: $363
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $3,055

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,650
• Livability: 76
• Average monthly grocery cost: $401
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $619
• Average monthly utilities cost: $366
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $3,036

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,619
• Livability: 76
• Average monthly grocery cost: $403
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $619
• Average monthly utilities cost: $365
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $3,006

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,608
• Livability: 81
• Average monthly grocery cost: $403
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $619
• Average monthly utilities cost: $359
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,988

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,437
• Livability: 78
• Average monthly grocery cost: $392
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $710
• Average monthly utilities cost: $367
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,905

• Average rent (January 2025): $1,497
• Livability: 73
• Average monthly grocery cost: $396
• Average monthly healthcare cost: $571
• Average monthly utilities cost: $357
• Average monthly expenditures cost: $2,821

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates used Zillow January 2025 data to find every city in Arizona that has (1) January 2025 monthly rent of $2,000 or less. GOBankingRates then used Sperling’s BestPlaces to find the cost of living index for every city on the list, looking at (2) grocery, (3) healthcare and (4) utilities index scores. Next, GOBankingRates used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 Consumer Expenditure Survey to find the annual expenditure amount for grocery (“food at home”), healthcare, and utilities (“Utilities, fuels, and public services”) costs for people aged 65 and older. GOBankingRates then added monthly housing, grocery, healthcare and utilities costs together to find where a person 65 and older could survive on $3,000 or less. In order for a city to be qualified for the study, it had to have a livability score of 70 or higher, as sourced from AreaVibes, and be one of the 2,000 largest housing markets, according to Zillow. All data was collected on and is up to date as of March 10, 2025.