Arizona roof facts
West Valley housing age by city: when the roofs went on
How old the housing stock is in eight West Valley cities, from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024 five-year estimates.
Glendale and Sun City have the oldest homes in the West Valley: median year built 1986 and 1973. Surprise, Avondale, Anthem, Goodyear and Buckeye are mostly 2000s construction, with median years from 2002 to 2011. Peoria sits in between at 1999. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024, tables B25034 and B25035.
TL;DR
A roof is as old as the house unless someone replaced it. These Census numbers show how many West Valley roofs are now in the 20 to 45 year range where tile underlayment wears out.
- Oldest stock: Sun City (median 1973, 89% of homes built before 1980) and Glendale (median 1986)
- Boom-era tile: Surprise, Avondale, Anthem, Goodyear and Buckeye are mostly 2000 to 2019 construction
- Peoria is split: 43% built 1980 to 1999, 44% built 2000 to 2019
- Glendale has 33,145 housing units built before 1980, the most in the West Valley
- Source: US Census Bureau ACS 2020 to 2024, table B25034 (year built) and B25035 (median year built)
Housing units by year built, West Valley cities
| City | Total units | Built before 1980 | Built 1980 to 1999 | Built 2000 to 2019 | Built 2020 or later | Median year built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glendale | 93,736 | 33,145 (35%) | 41,351 (44%) | 16,690 (18%) | 2,550 (3%) | 1986 |
| Peoria | 79,085 | 7,523 (10%) | 34,078 (43%) | 34,598 (44%) | 2,886 (4%) | 1999 |
| Surprise | 62,098 | 1,747 (3%) | 13,583 (22%) | 42,127 (68%) | 4,641 (7%) | 2005 |
| Avondale | 31,547 | 3,772 (12%) | 9,333 (30%) | 17,325 (55%) | 1,117 (4%) | 2002 |
| Sun City | 26,626 | 23,666 (89%) | 2,127 (8%) | 816 (3%) | 17 (0%) | 1973 |
| Anthem | 9,481 | 152 (2%) | 1,287 (14%) | 7,890 (83%) | 152 (2%) | 2004 |
| Buckeye | 35,276 | 1,366 (4%) | 2,069 (6%) | 27,015 (77%) | 4,826 (14%) | 2011 |
| Goodyear | 42,159 | 1,713 (4%) | 7,331 (17%) | 29,745 (71%) | 3,370 (8%) | 2007 |
Counts are housing units, not people. Sun City and Anthem are Census Designated Places. Shares are rounded.
About this dataset
The table above is a dataset. These fields describe it.
- Dataset
- West Valley housing units by year structure built, ACS 2020 to 2024
- What it covers
- Housing units by decade built and median year built for Glendale, Peoria, Surprise, Avondale, Sun City CDP, Anthem CDP, Buckeye and Goodyear, Arizona, from US Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, tables B25034 and B25035.
- Source
- US Census Bureau
- Period
- 2020-01-01/2024-12-31
- Area
- Glendale, Peoria, Surprise, Avondale, Sun City, Anthem, Buckeye and Goodyear, Maricopa County, Arizona
- Updated
- November 5, 2026
What this means for your roof
Concrete tile lasts a long time. The felt underlayment under it does not, and in Phoenix heat 20 to 30 years is a normal life for it.
That puts most of Surprise, Avondale, Anthem and Goodyear in the underlayment window right now. The tile is fine. The felt under it is not.
Glendale and Sun City are different. Their 1960s and 1970s homes carry shingle and flat roofs, often with several layers of past repairs.
How to read the numbers
These are survey estimates with margins of error, and they count every housing unit, apartments included. A city total is not a count of single-family roofs.
Median year built means half the homes are older and half are newer. 10X Roofing Advantage uses these figures to plan, never to judge a single home. Only an inspection tells you about your roof.
Sources
- US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, table B25034 Year Structure Built: https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, table B25035 Median Year Structure Built: https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035
- Place codes from the US Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer, Arizona places: https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/2024_gaz_place_04.txt
- Figures pulled through the Census Reporter API mirror of the same ACS release (acs2024_5yr): https://censusreporter.org/tables/B25034/
- Accessed November 5, 2026.
Compiled by the 10X Roofing Advantage team, Glendale, AZ, from the public sources listed below. Reviewed by {{REVIEWER}}. Published {{PUBLISHED}}. Last updated {{UPDATED}}. Data as of November 5, 2026. 10X Roofing Advantage is licensed under Arizona ROC #355299 and has roofed in Phoenix for 20 years.