43% of Arizona Voters Say Rising Costs Make Them More Likely to Move Out of State, a 2026 Survey Found

Among Arizona’s youngest voters, 69% said rising costs make them more likely to consider moving.

Across all ages, the share was lower, but the cost of living was on most voters’ minds.

Here’s what a 2026 survey found about Arizona voters thinking about leaving the state over costs.

Note: This is general information, not financial advice. Survey figures and costs are subject to change.

Who Ran the Survey and How

The Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) published findings from the first of two 2026 Arizona Voters’ Agenda surveys in a news release posted August 13, 2026.

The Agenda identifies the priorities that likely voters across political affiliations and generations agree on.

A polling firm called HighGround interviewed 500 likely Arizona voters by phone on June 15 to 18, 2026.

CFA describes them as likely general election voters with a history of electoral participation.

The 43% comes from June.

That makes it a measure of what likely voters said in one poll, not of what Arizonans did.

If you rarely vote, a poll of likely voters may not have reached you.

Voters answered questions about covering monthly expenses, the changing cost of living and whether rising costs make them more likely to consider moving.

Here’s what those voters said about moving and about rising costs.

Considering a Move

43% of the voters CFA surveyed said rising housing and other living costs make them more likely to consider moving to another state.

That’s about four in ten voters, or roughly 215 of the 500 people polled.

The survey asked voters to agree or disagree with a statement along those lines.

Housing is the only cost that statement names.

It covers a move to another state, not a move within Arizona.

A majority, 55%, disagreed, or roughly 275 voters.

Another 2% gave no answer.

Being more likely to consider a move isn’t the same as planning to move, so you can’t read the 43% as a count of voters who are leaving.

The Costs Behind the 43%

Eighty-two percent of voters in the CFA survey said the cost of living in Arizona has worsened over the past two years.

Nine in ten voters said it’s hard for most Arizonans to cover basic monthly expenses, nearly twice the 48% who said it’s hard for them personally.

Housing ranked first at 52% when voters picked the costs straining Arizona budgets.

Wages not keeping pace with inflation drew 44%, groceries 28% and gas and transportation 22%.

Census Bureau estimates put Arizona’s median gross rent, which is rent plus utilities, at $1,543 a month for 2020 to 2024.

At that median, rent plus utilities comes to $18,516 over a year.

Arizona’s median household income for those years was $79,964 in 2024 dollars, about $6,660 a month before taxes, a yardstick for your household.

Half of households earn less.

Owners estimated the median home value at $394,500 for those years.

A 20% down payment on that value would be $78,900, close to a full year of the median household income.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics measured prices up 2.5% in the Phoenix area, which covers Maricopa and Pinal Counties, over the 12 months ending in August 2026.

Food at home rose 1.0% over those 12 months, so a $100 grocery bill a year earlier would be about $101 by August 2026, on average.

Gasoline in the area was up 32.5% and transportation prices rose 8.3%, both over those 12 months.

Rent of primary residence, measured across the metro area, fell 0.3% over the same 12 months.

The Age Split

Among the youngest group of voters in the CFA survey, 69% said rising costs make them more likely to consider moving.

If you’re one of the younger voters, that’s about seven in ten of the youngest voters surveyed.

The share was 49% for ages 30 to 39 and 52% for ages 40 to 49.

Ages 30 to 49 sit near the middle, at about half.

It fell to 38% for ages 50 to 64 and 28% for voters 65 and older.

The gap is wide.

A similar age gap showed up in other answers.

Among the youngest group, 64% said it’s hard for them personally to cover basic monthly expenses, compared with 38% of voters 65 and older.

Wages not keeping pace with inflation drew 63% of the youngest group and 30% of voters 65 and older.

Moving and Population Change

The CFA survey asked voters whether costs make them more likely to consider moving to another state.

Census figures answer a different question, which is where people lived.

The same 2020 to 2024 estimates show 85.7% of Arizonans age one and up lived in the same house a year earlier.

That leaves about one in seven who lived somewhere else a year earlier.

That measure counts any move, including moves within the state, so it can’t tell you how many moved out of state.

Net change measures something else.

Estimates for April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025 show Arizona’s population grew 6.5%, from 7,158,104 to 7,623,818 residents.