Sierra Vista, AZ cityscape
Markets / Arizona / Sierra Vista
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE

Sierra Vista, AZ

Sierra Vista merits selective investigation by income-focused buyers who can tolerate weak employment and water-hazard exposure; buyers relying on strong labor demand or quick resale should avoid it.

Median price$265k
Median rent$1,253
Gross yield5.7%
Job growth▼ 4.0%
Metro Area · CBSA 4342040 public sourcesChecked nightly
SCORE / 10020RANK #558 / 571
Composite Market ScoreRank #558 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer

How much is rent in Sierra Vista, AZ?

Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,253 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 2.11% from a year earlier.

Zillow ZORI$1,2532026-06-30

All homes and bedroom counts

Census ACS gross rent$995ACS 2024 5-year

Occupied rental units paying rent

HUD 2BR FMR$1,257FY2026 FMR

Two-bedroom standard

These figures are not averaged together. Zillow and Realtor describe asking-rent markets, ACS measures rent paid by surveyed households, and HUD publishes administrative bedroom standards.

Exact county schedules

HUD rent benchmarks inside Sierra Vista

Every row keeps its own county FIPS schedule. No county is selected as a metro proxy and no synthetic metro FMR is calculated.

FY2026 FMR · FY2026 · monthly gross-rent standards
CountyStudio1 BR2 BR3 BR4 BR
Cochise County, AZFIPS 04003$887$1,111$1,257$1,748$2,109
The read

Why this market scores where it does

Sierra Vista merits selective investigation by income-focused buyers who can tolerate weak employment and water-hazard exposure; buyers relying on strong labor demand or quick resale should avoid it. Median asking rent is $1,253 against a $264,812 median home value, and the reported gross yield is 5.68%.

The opportunity is modest rent momentum without matching home-price growth: rent rose 2.11% year over year while price rose 0.1%. Rent consumes 25.16% of median household income, but this metro-wide measure does not establish tenant-level affordability or property-level occupancy and expenses.

The main tension is that employment fell 3.95% while net migration remained positive at 248 households. Buyers also face a slower resale setting, with 4.8 months of supply and 66 median days on market, plus inland-flood exposure. Underwrite cash flow without assuming rent growth and verify insurance and property-specific flood risk.

Frequently Asked Investor Questions

How close is asking rent to the published fair-market rent?
Median asking rent is $1,253 and published fair-market rent is $1,257, a calculated $4 gap.
Are migration and employment pointing in the same direction?
No. Tax filings show 3,805 households moved in and 3,557 moved out, for net migration of 248, while CES employment fell 3.95% year over year.
What does the record say about resale conditions?
Months of supply is 4.8, median days on market is 66, and the price-drop share is 23.35%.

Investor Quick Takeaways

Gross Yield: 5.7%

Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.

Rent Momentum: ▲ 2.11%

Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.

Investor Activity: 4.2%

Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).

Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI

Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.

Run Cash-Flow Test for Sierra Vista
Market pulse

The current market in eight signals

Fast-moving Redfin conditions sit beside the slower fundamentals so a buyer can separate today's negotiating climate from the long-run investment case.

Months of supply4.8 mo.▲ from 4.2 mo. a year ago
Median days on market66 days▼ from 72 days a year ago
Listings with price drops23.4%▲ from 22.1% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio97.5%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 0.1%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 2.11%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield5.7%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▼ 4.0%CES · 12m to 2026-06
Release-to-release evidence

What actually changed

This comparison exists because at least one underlying source period advanced. Rebuilding the same data never creates a new observation.

Published score held steady2020
0 pts

The published component scores did not move in this release.

Weights were unchanged at metro-2026-07-v2-omb2023, so the movement comes from refreshed evidence and percentile ranks.

The named source periods advanced, but the measured values on this page held steady.

Composite breakdown

What each component measures

Weights are published, not hidden, and the arithmetic is shown. Five components, each measured as a national percentile across all tracked metros.

Jobs0Rent trend30Affordability46Supply25Climate safety15
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
20
SignalScoreWeightPoints
Job growth030%0.00
Rent trend3025%7.50
Affordability4615%6.90
Supply pressure2515%3.75
Climate risk1515%2.25
Published score20
Sierra Vista, AZ scoreRank #558
20
Job growth0/100

Job: CES employment fell 3.95% year over year -> a rental-demand thesis based on job growth is unsupported.

Rent trend30/100

Rent: Asking rent rose 2.11% and gross yield is 5.68% -> current income is the opportunity, although operating costs are not included.

Affordability46/100

Afford: Rent equals 25.16% of median income and price equals 4.43 times income -> metro-level affordability does not settle property- or tenant-level economics.

Supply pressure25/100

Supply: Inventory stands at 4.8 months and median marketing time is 66 days -> buyers should allow for a slower exit.

Climate risk15/100

Climate: Inland flood is the dominant hazard and the climate loss ratio is 0.2483% per year -> parcel-level flood and insurance checks are necessary.

The numbers

What this market costs and what it earns

Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.

ZHVI Median Price
$265k
YoY ▲ 0.1%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,253
YoY ▲ 2.11%
Gross Rental Yield
5.7%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,253 × 12 ÷ $264,812
Job Growth (YoY)
▼ 4.0%
CES payrolls
Job signal 0/100
Median Household Income
$60k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
25.2%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
4.4x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,257
Market rent 99.6% of FMR
Historical affordability context

Compare aligned 2019 and 2024 asking-rent and nominal household-income endpoints across the direct-overlap metro set.

Independent rent evidence

One market, several legitimate rent benchmarks

These releases observe different homes and different moments. RentMarker keeps them separate: ZORI remains the scoring baseline, while the other sources test how sensitive the market story is to bedroom mix and measurement method.

Monthly benchmark4 of 4 reported values
Zero-based scale
Monthly rental benchmarksIndependent monthly rent measures shown on a zero-based scale. Missing source values are labelled unavailable and are not inferred.$0$375$750$1,125$1,500Zillow ZORI2026-06-30$1,253HUD 1BR FMRFY2026 FMR$1,111HUD 2BR FMRFY2026 FMR$1,257Census ACS gross rentACS 2024 5-year$995Monthly rental benchmarksIndependent monthly rent measures shown on a zero-based scale. Missing source values are labelled unavailable and are not inferred.$0$750$1,500Zillow ZORI2026-06-30$1,253HUD 1BR FMRFY2026 FMR$1,111HUD 2BR FMRFY2026 FMR$1,257ACS gross rentACS 2024 5-year$995
The chart compares published levels without averaging them. A longer bar does not mean a source is more accurate; it means that source measures a higher rent under its own definition.
Typical observed market rentZillow ZORI
$1,253Primary RentMarker baseline
2026-06-30

All homes and bedroom counts

A smoothed metro rent index for observed rentals; it is the primary rent used by RentMarker scores and career ratios.

View source release ↗
Fair Market RentHUD 1BR FMR
$1,111−$142 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR

One-bedroom standard

An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.

View source release ↗
Fair Market RentHUD 2BR FMR
$1,257+$4 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR

Two-bedroom standard

An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.

View source release ↗
Median gross rentCensus ACS gross rent
$995−$258 vs ZORI
ACS 2024 5-year

Occupied rental units paying rent

A five-year survey estimate of contract rent plus applicable tenant-paid utilities; it is not a current asking-rent index.

View source release ↗
Take the next step

Keep Sierra Vista as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.

Direct local rental evidence

Recent leases and rental-market liquidity in Sierra Vista, AZ

These Apartment List observations match the exact metro CBSA code 43420. They are kept separate from Zillow asking rent, Census occupied-home rent and property-level comparables.

Direct recent-lease rent history

Monthly overall-rent index; missing observations are not filled from another geography.

$1,153$921$6892017-072026-07
Recent-lease rent$1,1302026-07 · +0.2% year over year
Rental vacancyn/an/a
Time on marketn/an/a
Regional price level

What feels expensive inside Sierra Vista

BEA compares each category with the United States, which equals 100. This is a 2024 price-level comparison—not annual inflation.

BEA Regional Price Parities · 2024US = 100
Regional price parity categories for Sierra Vista, AZHorizontal bars compare all-items, housing, goods, utilities and other-services price levels with the United States benchmark of 100.5060708090100110All items89.2Housing61.9Goods96.2Utilities91.9Other services99.8
Orange extends above the national level; emerald extends below it. The chart does not convert rent or income into purchasing power.
Occupation wage lens

How asking rent sits against major local occupations

Annualized Zillow asking rent is divided by each BLS annual median wage. This is a screening ratio for one wage, not a household budget or affordability verdict.

Six largest published major groupsannual rent ÷ median wage
Annualized asking rent compared with major occupational median wages in Sierra Vista, AZHorizontal bars show annualized Zillow asking rent as a share of the BLS annual median wage for six major occupational groups with the largest published employment.0%10%20%30%40%50%Office and AdministrativeSupport Occupations$40,640 median wage37.0%Sales and Related Occupations$34,120 median wage44.1%Food Preparation and ServingRelated Occupations$32,310 median wage46.5%Management Occupations$99,700 median wage15.1%Business and FinancialOperations Occupations$85,610 median wage17.6%Educational Instruction andLibrary Occupations$47,340 median wage31.8%
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$40,640 median wage
37.0%
Sales and Related Occupations$34,120 median wage
44.1%
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$32,310 median wage
46.5%
Management Occupations$99,700 median wage
15.1%
Business and Financial Operations Occupations$85,610 median wage
17.6%
Educational Instruction and Library Occupations$47,340 median wage
31.8%
BLS OEWS 2025-05; Zillow rent 2026-06-30. The 30% line is a visible screen, not a RentMarker score or a claim about household costs.
Supply pipeline

What is being built, and for whom

Permits are the 12-to-24 month early warning. The total matters less than the mix: apartments compete with a rental the day they open.

National supply context

Compare this authorization pipeline with asking-rent growth, jobs and for-sale liquidity across the evidence-complete metro set.

Building permits by structure type
units per year · latest year annualised
Download CSV ↓
254201933320204222021516202248620234412024447202537820265+ unit buildingssingle family
378 units authorised in 2026, 0% of them in 5+ unit buildings. This is a single-family building cycle, so the competition is other houses, not new apartments. ✓ recomputed from series
Source: Census Building Permits Survey
Who is arriving, and who is buying

Demand, and the competition for it

Tax filings say how many households moved and what they earn; mortgage disclosures say how many local purchases went to someone who will not live there. Moves between counties inside this metro are netted out of both flow figures.

Net Household Move
+248
3,805 in vs 3,557 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 6.5% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
+$1,133
Arriving $57,052 vs leaving $55,919
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
4.2%
59 of 1,422 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.248% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →
Households arrive mainly from: Pima County · Maricopa County · El Paso County · Pinal County · San Diego County
3,805 in − 3,557 out = 248 net
Direct market links

Where tax-return households moved from and to

These are the largest flows where both counties map to a RentMarker market area. They are a documented subset of the all-US IRS totals above.

Explore every route
Leading inbound markets
  1. Tucson, AZ625 arriving
  2. Phoenix, AZ510 arriving
  3. Riverside, CA84 arriving
Leading outbound markets
  1. Tucson, AZ784 leaving
  2. Phoenix, AZ444 leaving
  3. El Paso, TX57 leaving
The other side

What would make this a bad buy

Generated from the same figures with the instruction to argue against the score, and published unedited. A page that only agrees with itself is an advertisement.

Three ways the case breaks

  1. CES employment fell 3.95% year over year, leaving a growth-based demand thesis unsupported.
  2. The resale picture is slow, with 4.8 months of supply, 66 median days on market, and a 23.35% price-drop share.
  3. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the annual climate loss ratio is 0.2483% of building value.
Statistical peers

Market areas that behave like Sierra Vista

Nearest neighbours on price level, income, yield and job growth — not on geography. Every market page gets a different peer set, which is the point.

Market areaScorePriceRentYieldJob Growth
Sierra Vista, AZ (Target)20$265k$1,2535.7%▼ 4.0%
Marquette, MI55$266k$1,2535.7%▼ 3.4%
Bloomington, IN34$306k$1,4425.7%▼ 2.6%
Nacogdoches, TX36$224k$1,1226.0%▼ 2.6%
Emporia, KS59$194k$8065.0%▼ 2.8%
Provenance

Where every figure came from

“Checked nightly” means every source is re-pulled and re-verified each night. It does not mean every source moves nightly — the release column tells you how fresh each number can possibly be.

Dataset SourceMethodRelease PeriodPulled Date
Census ACS 5-year — household income and gross rentdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-08-05
Census ACS 5-year — historical household incomedirectACS 2019 and 2024 5-year2026-08-05
Census ACS 5-year — populationdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-26
Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent indexdirectApartment List 2026-072026-08-08
Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquiditydirectApartment List 2026-072026-08-08
Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancydirectApartment List 2026-072026-08-08
BEA County Personal Income — income and populationdirect2024 County Personal Income (released 2026-02-05); history 1969-20242026-08-03
BEA Regional Price Parities — metropolitan price levelsdirect2024 Regional Price Parities (released 2026-02-19); history 2008-20242026-08-03
BLS CES — payroll employmentdirectCES SM current2026-07-26
BLS LAUS — resident employmentdirectLAUS current2026-07-26
BLS OEWS — occupation employment and wagesdirectMay 2025 OEWS estimates (released 2026-05-15)2026-08-03
BLS QCEW — county employment and wagesdirectannual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 20242026-08-02
OMB/BLS delineation — metro geographydirectOMB July 2023 delineation2026-07-30
Census Building Permits Survey — permitted unitsdirectBPS through 20262026-07-26
Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housingdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-29
Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stockdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-30
Census ACS 5-year — cities and communitiesdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-30
Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and incomedirectACS 2024 5-year ZCTA2026-08-08
FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratiosmodelledNRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS)2026-07-26
FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciationdirectannual county HPI history 1975-2025; latest 20252026-08-02
HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy typedirectHMDA 2024 purchase originations2026-07-26
HUD CHAS — renter burden by HAMFI income banddirectHUD CHAS 2018-2022 ACS 5-year (released 2025-12-23)2026-08-03
HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standarddirectFY2026 FMR2026-07-26
HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallbackdirectZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY20262026-07-26
HUD-USPS ZIP-to-county residential-address crosswalkdirectHUD-USPS 2026Q12026-08-09
IRS SOI — county migration and mover incomedirectSOI migration 2022-20232026-07-26
Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage ratesdirectweek of 2026-07-302026-08-06
Census ACS 5-year — effective property taxdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-08-06
Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventorydirectcounty inventory 2026-062026-07-28
Realtor.com Rental Report — top-50 asking rentsdirecttop-50 rental asking rents 2026-052026-08-05
Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cutsdirectmetro tracker through 2026-05-012026-07-26
Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supplydirectZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-032026-08-12
USDA ERS — Rural-Urban Continuum CodesdirectUSDA ERS 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes2026-08-02
Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rentsdirectcounty ZHVI/ZORI 2026-062026-07-26
Zillow ZHVI — metro home valuesdirectMetro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv2026-07-26
Zillow ZHVI — city home valuesdirectzillow_zhvi_city.csv2026-07-29
Zillow ZORI — metro market rentsdirectMetro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv2026-07-26
Zillow ZORI — city market rentsdirectzillow_zori_city.csv2026-07-29
Zillow ZORI - metro market rents, not seasonally adjusteddirectMetro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv2026-08-15
Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rentsdirectZORI ZIP 2026-062026-08-08