Home to Arizona State University, the iconic Mill Avenue District, and Tempe Town Lake's waterfront energy — explore what's around every corner.
Every pin below is a notable landmark in and around Tempe — tap any marker for details, or use the filters above to isolate a category.
Straightforward answers to the questions I hear most from buyers, sellers and investors looking at Tempe.
ASU's Tempe campus alone brings roughly 61,500 students into the immediate area, and it's the single biggest reason 58% of Tempe's housing is renter-occupied — more than any nearby East Valley city. That dynamic means most buyers here fall into one of two camps: investors treating a property as rental income tied to steady student and staff demand, or owner-occupants who specifically want walkable access to campus and accept the trade-off of buying in a renter-majority city. If your goal is a traditional owner-occupied neighborhood feel, you'll find it more in Tempe's southern pockets than near campus itself.
North Tempe sits right off the Loop 202 spur to Phoenix Sky Harbor, putting ASU, Mill Avenue, and the Marina Heights corporate campus just minutes from the airport — a real draw for frequent flyers and downtown Phoenix commuters, in a dense, renter-heavy, walkable setting. South Tempe, centered around The Lakes and zip code 85284, sits closer to the US 60/Loop 101 interchange, putting it within easy reach of Chandler's tech corridor and Ahwatukee rather than downtown Phoenix, in a quieter, owner-occupied, family-oriented setting. Your daily commute route should genuinely factor into which half of Tempe makes sense, since they serve two different work geographies.
Marina Heights, the roughly 2-million-square-foot corporate campus on Rio Salado Parkway right next to Mill Avenue, sold for $928 million in one of the largest office transactions in Arizona history and houses major employers like State Farm and LPL Financial. That's a meaningful shift for Tempe's urban core: Mill Avenue and the lake area aren't just a student and nightlife district anymore, they're also a genuine white-collar employment hub, which supports demand for higher-end condos and apartments right downtown rather than just budget student housing. If you're evaluating a property near Mill Avenue, it's worth knowing whether its likely tenant is a student or a Marina Heights professional, since that changes both the rent you can charge and how stable that demand is long-term.
These three cities serve almost entirely different buyers. Tempe's median sale price sits around $475,000 with a median household income near $80,000, reflecting its young, renter-heavy, ASU-driven market — a strong fit for investors, weak fit for traditional families. Chandler runs higher on both counts, with a median price around $520,000 and household income near $117,000 driven by Intel and the Price Road tech corridor, making it a better match for high-income families who still want reasonable price points. Scottsdale is a different category entirely, with median sale prices near $925,000 to $995,000 and a median age approaching 48, skewing toward luxury buyers and retirees rather than either families chasing value or investors chasing rental yield.
Tell me a bit about what you're looking for in Tempe and I'll follow up personally to map out next steps — no pressure, no obligation.
