Phoenix, United States Population

Phoenix is a city of 1.7 million people located in the state of Arizona in the southwestern United States. It is the capital of Arizona and the most-populous city in the state. It is the fifth-most populated city in the country and is the state capital with the largest population and the only state capital that has over one million residents.

The city of Phoenix is contained within the Phoenix metropolitan area. This is part of the Valley of the Sun, which is also part of the larger Salt River Valley. With just over 4.7 million people, Phoenix is the eleventh most populated metro area in the United States. The city is also one of the largest in physical size in the country, spanning over 1,300 square kilometers, twice the size of the city of Tucson.

A city heavily affected by the mortgage crisis

Phoenix was the fastest growing city in the country for over a decade until the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the recession hit. This led to a slowing of growth. In 2006, the city added 162,000 people, but during the crisis the city only added around 77,000 people. This slowing resulted in Phoenix having the lowest recorded growth rate in the census history. However, in 2016 the city once again became the fastest growing city in the in the country once again, adding 88 people to its population every day during the preceding year. By 2035, the Greater Phoenix Area is predicted to have a population total of 5.3 million.

The Phoenix economy

The financial crisis of 2007 to 2010 caused the construction industry in Phoenix to collapse and housing prices plunged. Due to the prominence of real estate and construction in Phoenix’s economy meant the city led the country in the recession. The city has since rebounded and regained 83% of the jobs lost during the recession. The city has four Fortune 500 companies and Intel has one of the largest sites in the area, employing 12,000 people.

A predominantly white city

Since its founding, Phoenix has been a predominantly white city. From 1890 to 1970, almost 90% of the city’s residents were white. This has since dropped to about 65% in 2010. A large portion of this decrease can be attributed to a change to the U.S. Census when a question about Hispanic background, which has led to many people to self-identify as “other race” and not white. Currently, the city is 65% white with 46% identifying as non-Hispanic. Black and African American residents make up 6.5% of the population and 2.2% of the population are Native American, while 3.2% are Asian.

A city for snowbirds

Phoenix has over 100 days a year where the temperature soars over 100°F and is sunnier than any other major metropolitan area in the United States. The elevation of the city also makes the air dry and the heat more comfortable. This combination attracts many seasonal tourists known as ‘snowbirds’. There are 400,000 winter visitors that visit Phoenix each year. The economic impact of snowbirds is quite valuable to the city, and they inject around $1 billion into the economy.

Tourism and hospitality are a big part of Phoenix’s economy, and the city has many four and five star resorts. There are over 500 hotels and 40 resort properties in the city, with over 62,000 quest rooms.

A golfing hotspot

The Greater Phoenix area has become one of the top golf destinations in the world. It has over 200 golf courses spread throughout the metropolitan area. The city also hosts the Phoenix Open, a four-day tournament that is attended by about half a million people fans—making it the best-attended event in golf.