I checked the stats for my current city and I have to question just how their calculating their housing costs... It's not even close to what's actually on the market at the moment.
I just checked, I live in Phoenix, in maricopa county, I’m pretty sure lumping together people living in Maricopa, Phoenix and the suburbs is not valid, you can’t commute across the county, it’s not a single market.
A bit ironic but Maricopa, AZ isn't actually part of Maricopa County; it's in Pinal County.
EDIT: Also worth noting that it's a ~45-60 minute commute from Maricopa to Boeing in Mesa. I make an equivalent commute every weekday--at interstate speeds for 60% of the route--and don't even leave my city proper. The commute isn't as unrealistic as you might think.
Maricopa to Boeing is basically 1/4 across the city. Try commuting from Maricopa to Discover at I-17 and the 202. That would be an hour and a half to two hours each way.