It’s no secret Arizona’s population has boomed in recent years, considering both Phoenix and Maricopa County have ranked first in fastest-growing cities and counties. Newly released Census data shows how that growth has affected all of Arizona, which is among the top three states in the country for raw population and percentage growth.
Between July 2018 and July 2019, Arizona’s population grew by 120,693 people, akin to adding a new city the combined size of Yuma and Nogales, according to national and state population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Dec. 30.
The state’s population reached 7.28 million on July 1, 2019.
Arizona trailed Texas and Florida, which gained about 367,000 people and 233,000 people, respectively.
The state’s population increased 1.7% in the 12-month period, following Idaho and Nevada, which both saw higher percentage increases than Arizona but also had much lower overall population gains.
Arizona’s fast growth may also gain the state more political clout. Capitol Media Services reported that Arizona is likely to gain a congressional seat, and with it an electoral vote, after the 2020 Census. Oregon, Montana, Colorado and North Carolina are also expected to gain a seat, Florida is expected to gain two seats and Texas is expected to gain three.
Only eight states, including Arizona, had more births in the 12-month period than the previous 12 months. Arizona had 175 more births over the period. All other states, and the District of Columbia, had fewer births in the recent 12-month period.
According to an analysis by Forbes, Phoenix is among the top cities for finding a job in early 2020. Phoenix tied for eighth place for net employment outlook nationwide, with a net employment outlook of 23%, calculated by analyzing the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity during first-quarter 2020 and subtracting the percentage of employers expecting to see an employment decrease at their location.
By Corina Vanek – Reporter, Phoenix Business Journal