Maricopa County ( ) is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and the most populous county in Arizona, and making Arizona one of the nation's most centralized states. The county seat is Phoenix, the state capital and fifth-most populous city in the United States.
Maricopa County is the central county of the Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Office of Management and Budget renamed the metropolitan area in September 2018. Previously, it was the Phoenix–Mesa–Glendale metropolitan area, and in 2000, that was changed to Phoenix–Mesa–Scottsdale.
Maricopa County was named after the Maricopa people. Five Indian reservations are located in the county.Indian Reservations in the Continental United States, Bureau of Indian Affairs on National Park Service website. Retrieved January 18, 2009. The largest are the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community (east of Scottsdale) and the Gila River Indian Community (south of Chandler).
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (0.3%) is covered by water. Maricopa County is one of the largest counties in the United States by area, with a land area greater than that of four other US states. From west to east, it stretches , and from north to south. It is by far Arizona's most populous county, encompassing well over half of the state's residents. It is the largest county in the United States to have a capital city.
Adjacent counties La Paz County – west Yuma County – west Pima County – south Pinal County – southeast and south Gila County – east Yavapai County – north
National protected areas Sonoran Desert National Monument (part) Tonto National Forest (part)
Regional parks Maricopa County has 14 regional parks: Adobe Mountain Desert Park Chaparral Lake Estrella Mountain Regional Park Hassayampa River Preserve Indian Mesa Lake Pleasant Regional Park Litchfield Park, Arizona Manistee Ranch McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park Papago Park Phoenix Mountains Preserve Sahuaro Ranch San Tan Mountain Regional Park White Tank Mountain Regional Park.
It also has at least 21 protected areas: Big Horn Mountains Wilderness Daisy Mountain Preserve Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve Eagletail Mountains Wilderness Harquahala Mountains Hells Canyon Wilderness (Arizona) Hummingbird Springs Wilderness Mesa Grande Mummy Mountain (Arizona) National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona Painted Rock Petroglyph Site Sierra Estrella Signal Mountain Wilderness Sonoran Desert National Monument St. Francis Catholic Cemetery Superstition Mountains Table Top Mountain (Arizona) Tonto National Forest Wabayuma Peak White Tank Mountain Regional Park Woolsey Peak
Flora and fauna From 2009 to 2011, an inventory of all vascular plants growing along the Salt River (Arizona), Gila River, New River and Agua Fria River and their tributaries in the Phoenix metropolitan area was done. In October 2022, Maricopa County Environmental Services Department detected Dengue virus in mosquitoes they had trapped; in November the first locally transmitted case of dengue fever was reported in the County and Arizona state as a whole - previous dengue cases in Maricopa County had been related to travel.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition since 1960 Racial composition2020 2010 2000 1990 19801970 1960 White 59.8% 73.0% 77.3% 84.7% 86.6% 94.8% 94.5% —Non-Hispanic 53.3% 58.7% 66.2% 77.1% 81.1% - - Black or African American 5.8% 5.0% 3.7% 3.4% 3.1% 3.3% 3.7% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 30.6% 29.6% 24.8% 16.2% 13.1% 14.5% - Asian 4.6% 3.5% 2.1% 1.7% - - 0.3% Native American 2.3% 2.1% 1.8% 1.7% - - 1.2% Pacific Islander 0.2% 0.2% 0.1% - - - - Mixed Race 13.6% 2.4% 2.9% - - - -
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 4,420,568. Of the residents, 23.5% were under the age of 18 and 16.1% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 37.2 years. For every 100 females there were 97.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.9 males. 97.7% of residents lived in urban areas and 2.3% lived in rural areas.
The racial makeup of the county was 59.8% White, 5.9% Black or African American, 2.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.6% Asian, 0.2% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 13.5% from some other race, and 13.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 30.6% of the population.
There were 1,643,579 households in the county, of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 26.2% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 1,812,827 housing units, of which 9.3% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 63.0% were owner-occupied and 37.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.4%.
+Maricopa County, Arizona – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010 White alone (NH) 2,034,530 2,240,0552,357,571 66.22% 58.68%53.33% Black or African American alone (NH) 108,521 177,490245,239 3.53% 4.65%5.55% Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 45,703 59,25268,353 1.49% 1.55%1.55% Asian alone (NH) 64,562 128,301197,910 2.10% 3.36%4.48% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH) 3,725 6,7239,579 0.12% 0.18%0.22% Other race alone (NH) 4,086 5,50820,693 0.13% 0.14%0.47% Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) 47,681 71,047169,808 1.55% 1.86%3.84% Hispanic or Latino (any race) 763,341 1,128,7411,351,415 24.85% 29.57%30.57% Total 3,072,149 3,817,1174,420,568 100.00% 100.00%100.00%
2010 census As of the 2010 census, 3,817,117 people, 1,411,583 households, and 932,814 families were living in the county. The population density was . The 1,639,279 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the county was 73.0% white (58.7% non-Hispanic white), 5.0% African American, 3.5% Asian, 2.1% American Indian, 0.2% Pacific islander, 12.8% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 29.6% of the population. The largest ancestry groups were:
25.6% Mexican 16.2% German 10.6% Irish 9.7% English 5.2% American 5.1% Italian 3.5% Spaniards 2.8% Polish 2.8% French 2.0% Scottish 1.9% Norwegian 1.8% Swedish 1.6% Dutch 1.5% Scotch-Irish 1.0% Russian
Of the 1,411,583 households, 35.1% had children under 18 living with them, 47.8% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.9% were not families, and 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.25. The median age was 34.6 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $55,054 and the median income for a family was $65,438. Males had a median income of $45,799 versus $37,601 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,816. About 10.0% of families and 13.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.8% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.
According to data provided by the United States Census Bureau in October 2015 and collected from 2009 to 2013, 73.7% of the population aged five years and over spoke only English at home, while 20.3% spoke Spanish, 0.6% spoke Chinese, 0.5% Vietnamese, 0.4% Tagalog, 0.4% Arabic, 0.4% German, 0.3% French, 0.3% Navajo, 0.2% Korean, 0.2% Hindi, 0.2% Italian, 0.1% Persian, 0.1% Russian, 0.1% Serbo-Croatian, 0.1% Telugu, 0.1% Polish, 0.1% Syriac, 0.1% Japanese, 0.1% spoke Romanian, and 0.1% spoke other Native North American languages at home.
2000 census As of the census of 2000, 3,072,149 people, 1,132,886 households, and 763,565 families were living in the county. The population density was . The 1,250,231 housing units averaged of . The racial makeup of the county was 77.4% White, 3.7% African American, 1.9% Native American, 2.2% Asian, 12.0% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races. About 29.5% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. About 19.1% reported speaking Spanish at home.
Of the 1,132,886 households, 33.0% had children under 18 living with them, 51.6% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were not families. About 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.67, and the average family size was 3.21.
The age distribution in the county was 27.0% under 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.10 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $45,358, and for a family was $51,827. Males had a median income of $36,858 versus $28,703 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,251. About 8.0% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.4% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.
Religion In 2010 statistics, the largest religious group in Maricopa County were Catholics, who are organized under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix with 519,950 Catholics and 99 parishes, and 9 additional eastern rite Catholic parishes. This is followed by 242,732 LDS Mormons with 503 congregations, 213,640 non-denominational adherents with 309 congregations, 93,252 Assembly of God Pentecostals with 120 congregations, 73,207 Southern Baptists with 149 congregations, 35,804 Christian churches and churches of Christ Christians with 29 congregations, 30,014 Evangelical Lutherans with 47 congregations, 28,634 UMC Methodists with 55 congregations, 18,408 Missouri Synod Lutherans with 34 congregations, and 15,001 Presbyterians with 42 congregations. Altogether, 39.1% of the population was claimed as members by religious congregations, although members of historically African-American denominations were underrepresented due to incomplete information. In 2014, the county had 1,177 religious organizations, the fifth most out of all US counties.
Government, policing, and politics Government The governing body of Maricopa County is its board of supervisors. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors consists of five members chosen by popular vote within their own districts. the board consists of four Republicans and one Democrat. Each member serves a four-year term, with no term limits. The chairperson of the board presides for a one-year term, selected by the board members during a public hearing.
Unlike cities and towns in Arizona, counties are politically and legally subordinate to the state and do not have charters of their own. The county Board of Supervisors acts under powers delegated by state law, mainly related to minor ordinances and revenue collection. With few exceptions, these powers are narrowly construed. The state legislature retains considerable authority over local matters, and counties must seek legislative approval for the most basic local measures.
The county sheriff, county attorney, county assessor, county treasurer, superintendent of schools, county recorder, constables, justices of the peace, and clerk of the Superior Court are elected by the people. Retention of Superior Court judges is also determined by popular vote.
Maricopa County Sheriff The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office provides court protection, administers the county jail, and patrols the unincorporated areas of the county plus incorporated towns by contract.
Politics