What should you know before you retire in Scottsdale, and what does it cost to live here?

What you should know before you retire in Scottsdale, and what it costs to live here, comes down to four things you can check: the summer, the hospitals you'd use, what Arizona taxes and what homes sell for. The summer is long and hot, Arizona taxes most retirement income at a flat 2.5% but doesn't tax Social Security, and in October 2026 the median sale price for single-family homes in the City of Scottsdale over the past 12 months was $1,235,000, according to the Cromford Report. A yearly budget depends on the home you pick and your health coverage, so further down there's a list of what to price and where each number comes from.

I'm Jen Keene, a REALTOR® with eXp Luxury in Scottsdale, AZ, and I'm the agent people call at every stage of their life. Here's each of those, with the source for every fact, so you can decide for yourself.

According to the City of Scottsdale, the city is 31 miles from north to south and covers 184.5 square miles, and the ground climbs from 1,150 feet to 4,877 feet above sea level. So it helps to picture a specific part of it, because the homes, the drive to the airport and the drive to the hospital you'd use all change along those 31 miles.

From the south end, Sky Harbor and Tempe are close, and from the far north end they're a longer drive. If you're moving to a smaller home inside Scottsdale, moving two miles within the north end keeps every drive the same, and moving south or central changes them. My page on downsizing in Scottsdale compares an Old Town condominium, a single-level home in central Scottsdale and a lock-and-leave home.

The official figures for the area are recorded at Phoenix Sky Harbor. In Phoenix, the normal July high for 1991 to 2020 is 106.5°F and the normal January high is 67.6°F, which both the National Weather Service and the Arizona State Climate Office show. The National Weather Service says the average first 100°F day in Phoenix is May 2 and the average last one is October 5. Monsoon season is June 15 to September 30, according to the City of Phoenix and the National Weather Service Phoenix office.

For the house, that means paying attention to which way it faces, how much shade the yard has, how old the air conditioning is and what a pool costs to run, which I go through on my page for people moving to the Phoenix area. Cooling is a real monthly cost and it's different for every house, so ask the seller for twelve months of electric bills. Maricopa County says electricity comes from either SRP or APS depending on where the property is, and either company can tell you which one serves an address.

If you'll be gone part of the year, you need a home you can close up and leave. A lock-and-leave home usually needs low-maintenance yard work, an HOA that takes care of the outside, and systems you can check on from somewhere else, which I go into on my page for resort and second-home buyers. The HOA documents tell you what the association maintains and what stays with you, and you can read them before your inspection period ends.

Before you buy, ask your insurer whether the policy limits coverage while the house sits empty, and after how many days, so you know before you leave for the summer.

HonorHealth's pages describe two of its hospitals in the city. HonorHealth says Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center, on East Osborn Road, is a Level I trauma center verified by the American College of Surgeons, and that Scottsdale Thompson Peak Medical Center, on East Thompson Peak Parkway, has 120 beds and offers medical, surgical and emergency care, open 24 hours a day.

Mayo Clinic's Scottsdale campus on East Shea Boulevard isn't a hospital. Mayo Clinic says the Scottsdale campus offers outpatient surgery, lab work, diagnostic testing, imaging and pharmacy, and that its Phoenix campus includes Mayo Clinic Hospital. So if Mayo is part of your plan, a hospital stay would be at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix.

Banner Health is building at the southwest corner of Loop 101 and Hayden Road. Banner's project page says it broke ground on the first phase, an outpatient center, in May 2025, and it lists a 106-bed hospital as a second phase that goes through city review. There's no settled opening date for the hospital.

Medicare is a federal program, so the enrollment rules here are the ones you have now. Your Initial Enrollment Period lasts seven months, starting three months before the month you turn 65 and ending three months after it, according to Medicare.gov and Kaiser Permanente's Medicare guide.

Medicare.gov says Original Medicare lets you see any doctor or hospital that takes Medicare, anywhere in the U.S., and that with a Medicare Advantage plan you can in many cases only use doctors in the plan's network. HonorHealth, Mayo Clinic and Banner are separate systems, so check which of them a plan covers before you choose a home. Moving out of your plan's service area opens a Special Enrollment Period, which Medicare.gov and Kaiser Permanente both list, and Medicare.gov says it lasts for 2 full months after you move. For Medigap, Medicare.gov says that if you don't buy a policy within 6 months of first getting Part A and Part B, you may not be able to buy one later, or you may pay more.

Arizona doesn't tax Social Security benefits. Arizona Revised Statutes 43-1022 lets you subtract the Social Security included in your federal adjusted gross income, and the Arizona Department of Revenue says full-year residents may exclude Social Security retirement benefits. Arizona has a flat income tax of 2.5%, which AARP's Arizona tax guide (updated January 2026) and the Tax Foundation's 2026 state income tax table both show.

Pensions and withdrawals from IRAs and 401(k)s are generally taxed in Arizona at that rate, according to AARP's guide, and the Department of Revenue says the taxable portion of a pension for federal purposes is taxable for Arizona purposes. Up to $2,500 a year of pensions from Arizona state or local government or from U.S. government service can be subtracted, under A.R.S. 43-1022 and the Department of Revenue's guidance. I'm not a tax adviser, so take your own figures to a CPA or tax preparer.

In October 2026, the median sale price for single-family homes in the City of Scottsdale over the past 12 months was $1,235,000, according to the Cromford Report's figures measured November 1, 2026. In October 2026, the average sale price over the past 12 months was $1,666,770. The average sits higher than the median, so the median is closer to what a typical sale looks like.

In October 2026, single-family homes that sold in Scottsdale had a median of 46 days on market, according to the Cromford Report. These figures cover single-family homes across the whole city, so condos and townhomes aren't in them, and prices change a lot from one part of Scottsdale to another. My Scottsdale housing market report has the rest of the current figures.

Here's the list I'd work through for any home you're serious about, with where to get each number:

• Property tax. The county's bill for that address. My post on looking up your Scottsdale property tax bill shows how, and explains the county's Senior Valuation Protection program.
• Homeowners insurance. A quote from your insurer for the address, including what happens to coverage if the house sits empty while you're away.
• Electricity and cooling. Twelve months of bills from the seller, and which company, SRP or APS, serves that address.
• HOA dues and rules. The HOA documents, read during the inspection period.
• Health coverage. The plans offered for the new address on Medicare.gov, and whether your doctors and hospital are in each network.
• State income tax. Your pension and IRA withdrawals at Arizona's 2.5% rate, worked out with your tax preparer.

Once those six are priced for a real address, you have your own yearly number, built on the house you'd live in.

The City of Scottsdale says its trolley service is free. The city also offers Cab Connection: its transit page says Scottsdale residents 65 or older, or residents certified disabled through the Valley Metro Mobility Center, can get up to 20 one-way vouchers a month, and the vouchers cover 80 percent of a one-way trip up to a maximum of $10.

The city's About Scottsdale page lists two senior centers, Granite Reef and Via Linda, and programs including Beat the Heat, the AARP Driver Safety Course and free tax preparation. If you might drive less in ten years, look at where the trolley goes before you choose a home.

In Scottsdale, that usually comes down to an Old Town condominium, a single-level home in central Scottsdale or a lock-and-leave home with an association that takes care of the outside. Each one changes your days in a different way, so it helps to tour all three before you narrow it down.

If you're selling a home to make this move, the order matters. In Step 4 of my process, house hunting, I tour the next place with you in person after the listing is signed, whether that's an active adult community, a lock-and-leave home or a larger home with room for visiting grandkids. My Legacy Method guide covers the deciding part, before any of it becomes a transaction.

1. Visit in July or August before you buy, so you know what a Phoenix-area summer feels like, and visit again in the winter.
2. Pick the part of Scottsdale you'd live in, and drive from there to the airport and the hospital you'd use.
3. Check which hospital systems your Medicare plan covers, and mark your enrollment, plan-switch or Medigap window on the calendar.
4. Talk with a tax preparer about how Arizona's 2.5% flat tax applies to your pension and IRA withdrawals.
5. Price the six costs on the list above for each home you're serious about.
6. If you're also selling a home, plan the sale and the purchase together, so the dates line up.

The first is visiting only in the winter. In Phoenix, a normal January high of 67.6°F and a normal July high of 106.5°F are two different places to live. The second is assuming the Mayo Clinic campus in Scottsdale has a hospital, when Mayo Clinic says its hospital is on the Phoenix campus. The third is keeping a Medicare Advantage plan from the old state without checking its service area.

The fourth is assuming all retirement income is tax-free in Arizona because Social Security is, when pensions and IRA withdrawals are generally taxed at 2.5%. And the last is comparing a citywide median price with the one home you're looking at, since the Cromford Report's figures cover single-family homes across the whole city.

If you're thinking about retiring in Scottsdale and you'd like to talk through which homes fit your plans and your budget, call me at (480) 203-6605 or send me a message.