Snapshot Report for Southern Arizona Cities, Towns, and Census-Designated Places
The Southern Arizona communities snapshot provides an overview of how the 41 largest cities, towns, and census-designated places (CDPs) within Cochise, Pima, Pinal, Greenlee, Graham, Santa Cruz, and Yuma counties are performing. Due to the importance of mining in Greenlee County, we also include three nearby communities in New Mexico. Hereafter, when discussing multiple cities, towns, or census-designated places, the general term communities will be used. Select measures from MAP’s core indicators were chosen to illustrate the most recent year of data available for the Southern Arizona communities. Special features providing greater detail on select indicators will be published on the MAP Dashboard throughout the year. For example, upcoming special features may include the poverty rate explored by race, family type, and age. You can find these special features in the MAP library under the Southern Arizona Communities category.
In 2023, the city of Tucson was the largest Southern Arizona community with a population of 543,348, reflecting a population growth of 11.6% since the year 2000 (see Figure 5). The next four largest Southern Arizona communities had significantly smaller populations, ranging from 57,000 to 99,000 residents. These communities include the city of Yuma (98,461), census-designated place Casas Adobes (70,770), and the cities of Maricopa (62,986) and Casa Grande (57,590). The town of Miami had the smallest population with 1,436 residents, followed by the Morenci CDP with 1,514 residents. Median age varied from place to place, with the town of Clifton posting the lowest median age at 24.9 years and the Green Valley CDP posting the highest at 73.3 years. Green Valley is unique in the sense that it is a retirement community with a median age 34.5 years higher than the state of Arizona’s median. There are select communities where the margin of error is too large and data are not available. Table 1 displays the population and median age for each Southern Arizona community.
Table 1: Southern Arizona Communities Population and Median Age (2023)
How are we doing?
In 2023, the poverty rate for the U.S. was 12.4%. There were 17 Southern Arizona communities that had poverty rates below the U.S. rate. The lowest rates were posted by the census-designated places Tanque Verde (2.3%), and Corona de Tucson (2.4%). The city of South Tucson had the highest poverty rate of the 41 communities in Southern Arizona at 35.2%.
Figure 1. Southern Arizona Communities Poverty Rate (2023)
The Corona de Tucson CDP had the highest median household income at $127,743 in 2023, followed closely by the Vail CDP at $121,385. Just as the city of South Tucson had the highest poverty rate of the 41 communities, it also posted the lowest median household income at $33,734. The city of Douglas followed at $39,350. Figure 2 highlights median household income for the Southern Arizona communities. There are select communities where the margin of error is too large and data are not available.
There is often a direct correlation between median household income and the poverty rate, as income increases the poverty rate decreases. The Green Valley CDP is the exception to this rule, as it has a low poverty rate and a median household income that is below average. The median age of the Green Valley CDP helps explain this as many members of the community rely on retirement and social security, while also being eligible for Medicare.
Figure 2. Southern Arizona Communities Median Household Income (2023)
An educated workforce is a key component for strong economic growth. Local areas with a high concentration of educated workers tend to generate faster long-run income, population, and job growth. Figure 3 explores each Southern Arizona community’s four-year college attainment rate. During 2023, the Catalina Foothills CDP had the highest percentage of those who were 25 years and older with a bachelor’s degree or better at 70.8%. The town of Oro Valley was second at 57.5%, 13.3 percentage points behind Catalina Foothills, but it surpassed the state of Arizona by a margin of 24.9 percentage points, as the state's four-year college attainment rate stood at 32.6%. The city of South Tucson posted the lowest percentage of those with a bachelor’s degree or better that were 25 years and older at 8.3%.
Figure 3. Southern Arizona Communities Four-Year College Attainment Rate (2023)
Enrollment in a quality early education program is often thought of as a precursor to later success in school. Early education enrollment for the U.S. in 2023 was 45.6%, significantly higher than the state of Arizona’s figure of 35.7%. It’s worth mentioning that only nine southern AZ communities had a four-year college attainment rate that was higher than the national rate. Of the 41 communities in Southern Arizona where early education data is available, 14 communities had enrollment rates higher than the state of Arizona’s rate, the highest of which was the Vail CDP at 72.1%. The city of Safford had only 22.7% of three-to-four year olds enrolled in an early education program. That was the lowest rate among the 41 Southern Arizona communities. There are limited data available for smaller communities, due to large margins of error. To view the early education enrollment data, click on the geography names in Figure 4. Early education enrollment for each Southern Arizona community is illustrated in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Southern Arizona Communities Early Education Enrollment Rate (2023)
What are the key trends?
More than half of the Southern Arizona communities posted population growth rates surpassing the U.S. rate of 18.1% between 2000 and 2023 (Figure 5). The city of Maricopa posted a remarkable increase in population at 5,956.3%, by far the fastest increase in population of any of the Southern Arizona communities. The Corona de Tucson CDP and the town of Sahuarita also posted high population growth rates with 1011.8% and 980.0% respectively. A total of 11 communities experienced a population decline from 2000 to 2023. The town of Miami recorded the most significant decrease, with a reduction of 25.8%, followed by the Morenci CDP at 19.4%. Notably, no geographies in New Mexico experienced a population increase during this period. The remaining communities with population losses were the cities of Bisbee, South Tucson, Willcox, Nogales, and Globe, and the census-designated places the Catalina Foothills, Catalina, and Tanque Verde. A reduction in natural resources & mining employment likely resulted in a decline in population for several of the Southern Arizona communities reported here.
Figure 5. Southern Arizona Communities Population Growth Rate (2000 - 2023)
How is it measured?
All data provided for the Southern Arizona communities, the state of Arizona, and the U.S. come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is a nationwide rolling-sample survey that produces one and five-year estimates on demographic, social, housing, and economic measures. Data is only available as five-year estimate for populations smaller than 20,000. In order to compare the Southern Arizona places with the state of Arizona and the U.S. all data provided in this analysis utilized five-year estimates. Note that the ACS five-year estimates are produced over a five-year time period and can only be compared to non-overlapping five-year estimates (for example: 2005-2009 and 2010-2014).
