Sell Your Commercial Property In Gilbert, AZ

Who rents in Gilbert

Gilbert had an estimated 280,262 residents in the 2020–2024 American Community Survey, in 96,363 occupied homes. Owners held 70,398 of them and renters 25,965, a 26.9% renter share. That is the lowest among the cities in our comparison, below Scottsdale (33.0%), Chandler (35.0%) and Mesa (35.6%).

Gilbert households are the highest earners in that group, with a median income of $122,551, ahead of Scottsdale's $110,886 and Chandler's $108,095. The town's Office of Economic Development reports that 30% of residents are aged 25 to 44, prime years for both renting and household formation. With 82,000 detached houses in town, a good share of renters lease single-family homes rather than apartments.

The town describes four employment areas: a Northwest area for science, technology, engineering and math jobs; a central healthcare corridor anchored by Banner facilities; and a Gateway area near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport serving aerospace and aviation firms and large retail. Banner Gateway Medical Center and Mercy Gilbert Medical Center sit in the healthcare corridor. Northrop Grumman, which expanded the former Orbital ATK operation in Gilbert, is among the technology employers the office highlights. The office also says employers can reach a workforce of about one million people within a 30-minute commute.

Rents and affordability

Median gross rent in Gilbert was $2,110 over 2020–2024, per ACS table B25064. That tops Scottsdale ($2,013), Chandler ($1,902), Mesa ($1,620) and Glendale ($1,528). Two things drive the premium: a high share of newer units and a renter pool that includes many families renting detached homes.

High rents do not mean low burden. Of Gilbert's renter households, 44.5% spend 30% or more of income on rent and 19.0% spend at least half, close to Chandler's 43.9%. Gilbert renters earn more, but they also pay more.

Gilbert's Census median is well above both HUD's metro Fair Market Rents and metro asking rents, which helps explain why voucher holders find few options here:

FMRs are for the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler MSA from HUD; the metro's voucher programs use ZIP-level Small Area FMRs, so the payment standard for a Gilbert unit can differ from these figures. Asking rents are metro averages from Kidder Mathews.

The apartment stock

Gilbert has 100,336 housing units, and 82,000 of them, about 82%, are detached single-family homes, per ACS table B25024. Only 12,597 units, or 12.6%, are in buildings with five or more units: 2,259 in 5–9 unit buildings, 3,192 in 10–19 unit buildings, 1,657 in 20–49 unit buildings and 5,489 in complexes of 50 or more. Another 3,625 are attached townhomes, and the town has just 252 mobile homes.

The stock is new. The median year built is 2003, the 2000s alone produced 35,366 units, and 59.6% of homes were built in 2000 or later. Only 4.1% date from before 1980. Construction has continued: 21,296 units were added in the 2010s and another 3,157 since 2020, so roughly a quarter of the town's housing was built in 2010 or later. Most of the older housing is around the Heritage District, the historic town center, while Val Vista Lakes, Agritopia and Power Ranch are master-planned communities from the 1980s onward, built mostly around single-family homes.

For apartment investors, this means two things. Small and mid-size apartment buildings, the 5–49 unit segment, total only 7,108 units in the entire town, so a well-kept building rarely has close competition. And most apartment renters here choose between large, amenity-rich complexes and rented houses, so smaller buildings compete on location, unit size and price.

New supply and development

Gilbert is still growing. The economic development office reports more than 3 million square feet of commercial space under development. Heritage Park, a 10-acre mixed-use project at the northern gateway of the Heritage District, broke ground in May 2025, adding restaurants and other uses to the town center that supports nearby rental demand. The office also reports that Melrose Professional Park, a 120,000-square-foot medical and office condominium park, broke ground in December 2025, and that the final 101,000-square-foot building at Gilbert Spectrum Business Park broke ground in June 2026. Each adds jobs within a short drive of Gilbert's rental housing.

Across the metro, Kidder Mathews counted 15,974 apartment units under construction in Q2 2026, down 35.5% in a year, and vacancy of 11.3%. Average asking rent fell 2.2% to $1,536. A slowing pipeline eases pressure on Gilbert owners competing with new lease-ups.

Property taxes on apartment buildings in Maricopa County

Arizona treats rental housing as legal class 4 property with an assessment ratio of 10%. The limited property value that serves as the tax base can rise no more than 5% a year under A.R.S. 42-13301, and a sale is not among the recalculation triggers in A.R.S. 42-13302, so a buyer generally inherits it. Appeals of a notice of value are due within 60 days of its mailing.

Gilbert, like Mesa, has no primary municipal property tax. The 2025 Maricopa County rate schedule lists Gilbert at 0.0000 primary and 0.9800 secondary per $100 of assessed value, versus 0.2118 and 0.8700 in Chandler. County-wide levies include a 1.1591 county primary rate, 1.0600 primary for the community college district, 0.1428 for flood control, 0.1400 for the Central Arizona Water Conservation District and 0.2914 for the Special Health Care District. School district rates, which differ between Gilbert's districts, are added.

There is no real estate transfer tax in Arizona, and the state constitution bars new ones. According to the Department of Revenue, municipal transaction privilege tax on long-term residential rent ended January 1, 2025.

Landlord rules and local compliance

A.R.S. 33-1329 preempts rent control in every Arizona city and town, with an exception for housing owned, financed, insured or subsidized by a state agency or a city. Security deposits are capped at one and a half months' rent, with an itemized return due within 14 business days after move-out and the tenant's demand. Unpaid rent allows termination after a five-day notice. Rentals must be registered with the Maricopa County Assessor under A.R.S. 33-1902, with penalties of up to $150 a day for unregistered existing properties after a 10-day cure, and out-of-state owners must name an Arizona statutory agent.

For a newly purchased building, the statute's penalty is $1,000 plus $100 a month until the registration is filed, so buyers tend to make current registration a closing item. Lease violations other than unpaid rent require a 10-day notice for material noncompliance, and a landlord who wrongfully keeps a deposit can owe the tenant twice the amount withheld.

What this means if you own a building here

Owning an apartment building in Gilbert means owning something scarce. Few buildings exist, renters have high incomes, and the town has no primary property tax. Kidder Mathews reported Alta Rise in North Gilbert, a 278-unit property, selling for $81.6 million, or $293,525 per unit, in Q2 2026, against a metro average cap rate of 5.8%. A smaller building will trade on its own rent roll, condition and how its units compare with newer complexes.

Before talking to buyers, prepare a clean trailing 12-month net operating income statement, confirm your assessor registration and check value with our apartment building value calculator. If you plan to reinvest, our 1031 exchange calculator can help. Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit buildings in Gilbert, listed or off-market; see our seller page.