Superior Arizona Real Estate Market Report — May 2026
Superior Arizona Real Estate in May 2026 looks nothing like the Phoenix metro markets… and that is the point. The median list price for Superior homes for sale sits near $250,000, average price per square foot runs about $202, and roughly 19 to 24 detached single-family homes are typically listed at any given time. Days on market average 108. The active inventory ranges from sub-$170,000 historic miner’s cottages up to $750,000 acreage properties with Apache Leap views, with most resale activity concentrated in the $175,000 to $325,000 band. This is a small, slow-moving, owner-occupied market sitting on top of one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in North America… and the buyer profile is shifting because of it. This Superior AZ market report breaks down every layer of that picture.
May 2026 Market Snapshot
Median List Price $250,000 → Stable vs. prior month |
Typical Home Value $154,618 ▲ Resale stock value |
Avg Price / Sq Ft $202.57 → Stable range |
Active Listings 19 to 24 ▲ Light supply, range bound |
Days on Market 108 → Long tail |
Entry Resale Under $170k → Cottage stock |
Top of Range $750,000 ▲ View acreage |
Market Type Buyer-Favorable → Slow turn, price-sensitive |
Prices & Volume… May 2026
The Superior market trades at one of the lowest median list prices of any incorporated municipality inside the greater Phoenix commute shed. A typical 2 bed / 1 bath cottage on a townsite lot under 1,500 square feet currently lists in the $150,000 to $230,000 range. A 3 bed / 2 bath updated home around 1,800 to 2,400 square feet lists in the $275,000 to $375,000 range. Acreage parcels with custom homes and panoramic Apache Leap or Picket Post views break above $500,000 and have reached $750,000 in May 2026.
Volume is light. The town has a fixed housing stock… most Superior homes for sale were built between 1900 and 1980, and turnover runs in the low double digits per year. Days on market average 108, which is roughly double what the broader Pinal County average runs. That is not market weakness, it is simply small-town pricing discipline: a Superior seller in 2026 cannot rely on the auction-style bidding wars that defined Phoenix in 2021, and homes that are priced above comparables sit. Properties priced accurately to recent comps… and especially homes that have been updated mechanically (HVAC, plumbing, roof) … move at or near asking with cash and conventional buyers competing. The broader Superior Arizona Real Estate cycle in 2026 favors disciplined sellers and patient, well-financed buyers.
By Zip Code
Superior uses a single zip code (85173) for the entire incorporated town and surrounding unincorporated area, including the Queen Valley community to the southwest and Apache Leap geography to the east.
- 85173 (Superior townsite + outlying): Median list price about $250,000 with average price per square foot near $202. Inventory mixes historic townsite parcels under 1,500 square feet, mid-century homes on quarter-acre lots, and larger acreage parcels at the town fringe. The same zip also covers the Queen Valley HOA community, which has its own price character built around small homes on larger desert lots.
Superior Neighborhoods & Subdivisions
Superior is a small historic mining town… it does not have the named master-planned subdivisions you find in the Phoenix or Tucson metro markets. The Superior Arizona Real Estate housing stock is organized instead around historic neighborhood districts, the original townsite plat, and a couple of outlying acreage communities. The cards below represent the distinct, verifiable areas inside or directly adjacent to Superior 85173 where homes change hands.
Superior Townsite (Historic Core)
Original platted town blocks running off Main Street and U.S. Highway 60. Cottages and 1- to 2-story bungalows built between 1900 and 1950. Walkable to Town Hall, Bob Jones Museum, restaurants, and the renovated Superior High School arts and town hall complex.
Superior Highlands
Elevated streets on the slopes above the historic core with Apache Leap and Picket Post views to the east and west. Mid-century homes on larger lots than the townsite, plus some newer custom builds. Quiet residential character with a short walk down to Main Street.
U.S. 60 Corridor & East Edge
Properties fronting or just off U.S. Highway 60 east of town, leading toward Boyce Thompson Arboretum. Wider range of lot sizes including small acreage parcels, custom homes with carport workshops, and rare large-acreage view properties. Easy access to hiking, the Arizona Trail, and the arboretum.
Queen Valley (Outlying Community)
Small HOA community on Queen Valley Road southwest of Superior, technically inside the 85173 mailing area. Smaller homes on larger desert lots, attracts a mix of retirees, snowbirds, and weekenders. Self-managed water and quiet two-lane road access only.
Verified inside Superior 85173 boundaries. Superior does not have organized master-planned subdivisions in the Phoenix metro sense. Buyers wanting that profile in the same corridor typically look at Gold Canyon (Pinal), Apache Junction (Pinal), or Anthem at Merrill Ranch (Florence).
Superior’s Neighboring Cities & Surrounding Markets
Superior sits within Pinal County… right on the historic Copper Corridor where central Arizona’s mining towns line up along U.S. Highway 60. Many Superior Arizona Real Estate buyers and sellers also look at neighboring Central Arizona towns to the east and the Phoenix East Valley growth corridor to the west. Tap any city below for the complete market report.
Explore All of Pinal County Real Estate
Superior is the oldest incorporated town in Pinal County, the fastest-growing county in Arizona and one of the fastest-growing in the country. Pinal sits between Maricopa County to the north and Pima County to the south, with the Phoenix-Tucson commerce corridor running through its heart. Median prices vary dramatically across Pinal… from Superior’s sub-$250,000 range to over $500,000 in parts of the Gold Canyon and Maricopa growth zones.
▶Pinal County Real Estate Guide◀Schools & School Districts
Per the Arizona Department of Education FY25 A-F Letter Grades (released April 15, 2026), Superior Unified School District earned a C grade at the district (LEA) level. Superior Unified is a true K-12 unified district serving the entire town with two schools inside the 85173 zip. The district is small enough that the LEA grade essentially reflects the rolled-up performance of those same two schools.
Superior Unified School District… C-Rated K-12 Unified District
Superior Unified School District operates two schools, both physically located inside the town. There are no separate elementary and high school districts here, no charter schools physically inside Superior, and no nearby competing public option without a 20-plus-minute drive to Globe or Apache Junction. Families who want a wider school selection often look east to the Globe Unified or Miami Unified districts, or west to the J.O. Combs and Apache Junction unified districts in the East Valley.
Schools That Serve Superior
John F. Kennedy School
Per ADE FY25 official data, JFK School earned a C letter grade with 56.82 total points earned (65.13 percent of eligible). The town’s elementary and middle school anchor on the north side of the historic core. Small class sizes are the consistent reported strength.
ADE FY25: C 56.82 pts K-8Superior Junior/Senior High School
Per ADE FY25 official data, Superior Jr/Sr High earned a C letter grade with a Hybrid Total of 50.65 points earned (60.20 percent of eligible). The school operates as a combined junior/senior high under the ADE Hybrid Schools model. It is the only high school option inside the town.
ADE FY25: C 50.65 pts Grades 7-12School attendance zone boundaries change periodically. Verify zone assignment directly with Superior Unified School District before making a purchase decision based on school preference, especially for any home on the town’s outer edges.
Source note: All letter grades on this page reflect the official Arizona Department of Education FY25 A-F release (April 15, 2026), the most current state-issued data available. Third-party aggregators (Niche, GreatSchools, SchoolGrade) are secondary references only and do not override official ADE grades.
Safety & Crime in Superior
Superior earns a B-minus overall safety grade from CrimeGrade and sits in the 55th percentile for safety nationally, meaning it is safer than 45 percent of US cities and less safe than 55 percent. Overall crime runs at about 50.78 incidents per 1,000 residents per year. Violent crime carries a separate C-plus grade at the 51st percentile, with a violent crime rate of 4.469 per 1,000 residents… roughly in line with the national average. Property crime drives most of Superior’s incident count, concentrated around the U.S. Highway 60 commercial corridor where retail traffic creates inflated per-resident statistics. Year-over-year, violent crime has declined while property crime has trended up modestly.
Law Enforcement Jurisdiction in Superior
Superior is a single-agency town. Primary patrol and response is handled 24 hours a day by the Superior Police Department, headquartered at 199 N. Lobb Avenue, Superior, AZ 85173. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has concurrent jurisdiction across all unincorporated Pinal County but operates as a secondary resource for incorporated Superior, not primary patrol. The Arizona Department of Public Safety provides highway patrol coverage on U.S. Highway 60 and on the state routes connecting Superior to Globe-Miami and the Phoenix metro. Buyers should understand this is a small department by metro standards (about 15 officers total), with the higher officer-per-resident ratio that comes with covering a small fixed population.
Superior Safety Snapshot
Crime is concentrated along the U.S. 60 commercial corridor. Residential blocks south of the highway score as the safest part of town.
Residents consistently describe Superior’s residential streets… particularly the Superior Highlands area and the south side of the historic townsite … as quiet, with the central commercial blocks accounting for most incident reports. Vehicle theft has trended up across the entire Copper Corridor and Superior is not immune. Garage parking, motion lighting, and ring-style camera systems are the standard recommendations for resale homes that often lack those features as built.
Major Employers & Commute
Superior’s economy historically rises and falls with copper. The town was founded around the Silver King and Magma mines, which produced silver and then copper continuously from the late 1800s until the Magma mine closed in 1996. Today the largest local employer is Resolution Copper, the Rio Tinto and BHP joint venture developing the deep underground copper deposit beneath the old Magma Mine site. The project is currently in the pre-production phase pending federal land exchange and environmental review, but at full production Resolution alone is projected to employ roughly 1,500 workers and generate about $1 billion per year in regional economic activity. Beyond mining, Superior runs on town services, the school district, healthcare commuting east to Globe, tourism around Boyce Thompson Arboretum, and growing logistics demand along the U.S. 60 corridor.
Top employers within commuting distance
The Resolution Copper project drives a meaningful share of new buyer activity in 2026. As the project moves through environmental review and toward construction, contractor and white-collar mining hires increasingly look for housing inside Superior rather than commuting in from Gold Canyon or Apache Junction. For long-distance commuters, U.S. 60 west is a straight 40 to 60 minute drive to the Phoenix East Valley and 70 minutes to Sky Harbor at off-peak hours.
What Superior Residents Say
The themes below are paraphrased from anonymized resident feedback and published community reviews. They reflect what newcomers and long-time residents actually say about living in Superior in 2026.
“We bought a 1940s bungalow in the townsite for under $200,000… same money got us a cardboard rental in Mesa. The trade-off is real, but if you don’t need DoorDash you’ll love it. Everyone knows your name at the post office within a month.”
“Apache Leap Mining Festival in March, Prickly Pear Festival in August, Music in the Park first Saturdays. Small town with actually something to do. The arboretum is a 5-minute drive and we treat it like a backyard.”
“We bought ahead of the Resolution Copper project. It might take years before the mine actually produces, but the town is already rebuilding… new town hall, new senior center, the High School arts space. Property values feel like the floor is rising.”
“Retired here from California. Climate is real fall, spring and summer… not Phoenix oven. We’re an hour from a real hospital but we have urgent care and a clinic. The trade-off is exactly what we wanted.”
Why Superior Arizona Real Estate Matters in 2026
Superior is one of the most asymmetric small-market real estate stories in Arizona. A sub-$250,000 median price point inside the broader Phoenix commute shed, an incorporated town with its own police and school district, AND a generational mining project that could anchor regional employment for decades all converge in the same 1.9-square-mile footprint.
Key drivers supporting Superior Arizona Real Estate include:
- Affordable entry point… median list near $250,000 makes Superior one of the cheapest incorporated municipalities within 70 miles of Phoenix.
- Resolution Copper project… up to 1,500 jobs and roughly $1 billion in annual regional economic activity projected at full production.
- Town reinvestment… the renovated Superior High School complex is now town hall plus library plus senior center. The enterprise center supports new entrepreneurs and trades.
- Tourism economy… Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Apache Leap Mining Festival, Prickly Pear Festival, the Arizona Trail, and the Pinal Historic Cemetery (Mattie Earp) all anchor steady visitor traffic.
- Apache Leap protection… the 807-acre Apache Leap Special Management Area is permanently protected, preserving the town’s signature backdrop.
- Highway access… U.S. Highway 60 is a direct east-west artery, 40 to 60 minutes to the Phoenix East Valley, 70 miles to Sky Harbor, 70 miles to Tucson.
- Climate advantage… elevation around 2,900 feet runs 8 to 12 degrees cooler than Phoenix in summer, which is the entire reason the silver and copper miners settled here originally.
- Single-zip, single-district simplicity… no zoning confusion, no patchwork school assignment, no jurisdictional overlap. What you see is what you get.
- Inventory scarcity… with only 19 to 24 active listings at any time, organic price discovery dominates and a well-positioned listing rarely sees real downward pressure once priced right.
- Pinal County trajectory… the surrounding county is one of the fastest-growing in the United States. Superior is a low-priced tide in a rising tide.
Superior is not a speculative play. It is a small, owner-occupied market with a fixed housing stock, a working economy, and a generational employer in development next door. That combination is rare in Arizona. Anyone who waited too long to buy in Gold Canyon, Anthem at Merrill Ranch, or Maricopa knows what happens when corridor employment scales and the surrounding small towns reprice off it.
May 2026… Buyer & Seller Takeaways
- Buyers: 19 to 24 active listings means inventory is thin, but 108-day average DOM means you have real negotiating room on aged listings. Updated mechanicals are the value driver in homes built 1900 to 1980. Inspect for asbestos, lead, knob-and-tube, and septic vs. sewer before you write.
- Sellers: Price discipline is everything. The market does not chase. List at proven comps, lead with mechanical updates, and use professional photography that frames Apache Leap or Picket Post when the view exists. Overpricing a Superior home wastes 90 days.
- Investors: Acreage and U.S. 60 corridor parcels are the highest-upside plays as Resolution Copper progresses. Cottage rentals in the townsite produce strong cash-on-cash for sub-$200,000 buy-in. Verify floodplain status before any purchase.
- Retirees: Queen Valley and the Superior Highlands offer the quietest residential profile. Budget for round-trip drives to Globe (27 min) or Apache Junction (40 min) for major medical, large grocery, and big-box retail.
- Resolution Copper-driven relocators: Townsite proximity to Resolution’s West Plant matters for shift workers. Highlands and U.S. 60 corridor work better for management or contractors who need quiet plus quick highway access.
- 1031 / cross-state buyers: Superior is one of the few Arizona incorporated markets where a $250,000 purchase still buys a freestanding house with land, not a condo or a townhome. Tax-advantaged exchanges from coastal markets routinely close here on under-$300,000 deals.
Frequently Asked Questions
The median list price in Superior is about $250,000 with an average price per square foot near $202. Recent closed sales have ranged from the high $100,000s for smaller historic homes to the high $300,000s for renovated properties with land or panoramic Apache Leap views.
Superior earns a B-minus overall safety grade from CrimeGrade and sits in the 55th percentile for safety nationally, with a crime rate close to the U.S. average. Property crime runs higher than the violent crime rate, with central commercial blocks accounting for most reported incidents. The town is patrolled 24 hours a day by the Superior Police Department.
Superior students are served by the Superior Unified School District, a K-12 unified district that earned a C letter grade in the Arizona Department of Education FY25 A-F release. The district operates two schools inside the town: John F. Kennedy School (K-8, C grade) and Superior Junior/Senior High School (grades 7-12, C grade).
Superior uses a single zip code, 85173. The zip covers the incorporated town, the surrounding unincorporated area including Queen Valley, and the Apache Leap and Oak Flat geography to the east. Mail addressed to 85173 with a Superior city designation is the only official format.
No organized new construction subdivisions are active in Superior in 2026. The market is dominated by resale homes built from roughly 1900 to 1980, with occasional custom single-lot builds and a small inventory of vacant lots inside the townsite. Buyers looking for production new build inventory in this corridor typically look at Gold Canyon, Apache Junction, or Florence.
Resolution Copper is the largest employer based in Superior, with mine development activity tied to the Oak Flat copper deposit. The Town of Superior, Superior Unified School District, Cobre Valley Regional Medical Center in nearby Globe, Boyce Thompson Arboretum, and Pinal County government round out the local employer base. Many residents commute east to Globe-Miami or west to the Phoenix East Valley.
Superior has effectively no organized condo or townhome inventory. The town’s housing stock is overwhelmingly detached single-family homes on individual lots, many on historic mining town parcels. Buyers seeking condos in Pinal County typically look at Apache Junction, Gold Canyon, or Casa Grande.
Resolution Copper is the Rio Tinto and BHP joint venture developing one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in North America beneath the old Magma Mine. At full production the project is projected to employ roughly 1,500 workers and contribute about $1 billion per year to the regional economy. The project is currently working through federal land exchange and environmental review. Buyers track Resolution as a long-cycle catalyst for Superior values, not a guaranteed near-term price spike.
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Resources
Superior Business & Commercial Real Estate
Superior’s commercial market is small but strategically positioned at the western gateway to the Copper Corridor. U.S. Highway 60 frontage carries roughly 8,000 to 14,000 vehicles per day depending on Resolution Copper construction phase, with the Phoenix-to-Globe-to-eastern Arizona corridor running directly through the town’s commercial core on Main Street. Inventory is thin and turnover is event-driven, but a focused commercial buyer can find legacy buildings, mining-era industrial parcels, and U.S. 60 retail frontage at price points unavailable in any Phoenix-metro submarket.
For commercial transactions and business sales, you need specialists… not residential agents handling commercial deals on the side. Here’s what’s actually moving in this market right now:
Office Lease Rates $10 to $16 → Annual NNN range |
Retail Lease Rates $12 to $22 → Annual NNN range |
Industrial Lease $6 to $11 → Mining-adjacent shops |
Cap Rates Trading 7.5% to 9.5% → Recent sales |
Active Listings 5 to 9 ▲ Lease + sale |
Total Inventory Thin → Mixed-use core |
For Sale Range $120k to $1.5M → Mixed |
Anchor Asset U.S. 60 Corridor → Highway frontage retail |
Buying or Selling a Superior Business?
Thinking about buying or selling a Superior business… with or without the real estate? Superior’s small business inventory ranges from Main Street historic retail and restaurants to mining-support service businesses to tourism operators tied to Boyce Thompson Arboretum and Apache Leap. We have dedicated full-time business brokers who specialize in Arizona business transactions and know how to value, market, and close Superior businesses at maximum value… with complete confidentiality from first conversation through closing day.
▶Talk to a Business Broker◀Buying or Selling a Superior Commercial Building?
Thinking about acquiring or selling a Superior commercial building? Whether you are evaluating Main Street retail, U.S. 60 highway frontage, mining-corridor industrial, or a mixed-use rehab inside the historic core, this is a market where local relationships and Resolution Copper project timing both matter. We have dedicated full-time commercial real estate agents who cover this entire submarket. Don’t trust commercial property to a residential agent who handles it occasionally.
▶Talk to a Commercial Agent◀
Buying a Business, Fix & Flip, or Commercial Building in Superior?
Visit 75BizLoans.com for fast, competitive financing on business acquisitions, commercial real estate, and investment properties in Superior… from $100,000 to $50 million. Whether you’re acquiring a Superior business, financing a fix-and-flip residential investment, BRRR strategy, multi-family apartment building, or purchasing a commercial property, 75BizLoans.com offers nationwide commercial lending with fast approvals and terms that actually close deals.
▶Get Funded at 75BizLoans.com◀Methodology & Sources
Coverage area: Superior Arizona Real Estate across the entire incorporated town and surrounding 85173 area, including the Queen Valley community.
Data sources: Monthly closed-sale and active-listing data is compiled from local sales records and verified across multiple area data sources before publication. Public records, town planning documents, and Resolution Copper public filings are used for project status and address verification. School ratings are drawn from the Arizona Department of Education state report cards (primary), with Niche, GreatSchools, and SchoolGrade used as secondary references only. Crime data comes from CrimeGrade, AreaVibes, and FBI Uniform Crime Reports. Town and police agency information is verified directly against the Town of Superior official site at superioraz.gov.
Update cadence: This report is rebuilt the moment new market data is released each month, typically between the 7th and the 10th. Reported figures reflect the most recent complete monthly cut available at publication. Figures presented as ranges reflect normal mid-month variation across data sources, so you always see realistic numbers… not cherry-picked ones.
Author: Compiled by Arizona Homes and Condos Realty. We intentionally do not list properties on this site… Arizona’s market changes too fast for static listing pages to remain accurate.
Here is what actually happens when you reach out. If you are a buyer, a dedicated full-time agent who specializes in your exact target area starts working on your behalf immediately… researching both on-market AND off-market opportunities. Today’s real estate moves so quickly that many of the best properties never reach the national websites at all. You need someone with local relationships pulling for you.
If you are a seller, a local dedicated full-time listing agent reaches out personally to discuss your goals, your timeline, and the details of your property… so we can position you for the strongest possible outcome.
Last updated: May 11, 2026.