Maricopa County, Phoenix Area, Lead Nation in Population Growth Amid Pandemic
Arizona’s valley region was one of the few major metropolitan areas in the country to grow amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s business closures, remote work, at-home school, and other disruptions.
On Thursday, the U.S. Census released more detailed data from its annual population estimates recording changes in headcount from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2021.
Maricopa County, the nation’s fourth-largest by population, gained an estimated 58,246 people in that timeframe. The increase, calculated by adding births and incoming residents and subtracting those who left or died, is more than any other county. The Census data shows an increase of 46,866 solely because of domestic migration, more than any other county.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a dispersion of people from some of the nation’s largest metropolitan counties to smaller cities or suburbs, which Census demographers say led to a broad increase in population for most counties.
“The patterns we’ve observed in domestic migration shifted in 2021,” said Dr. Christine Hartley, assistant division chief for estimates and projections in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. “Even though over time we’ve seen a higher number of counties with natural decrease and net international migration continuing to decline, in the past year, the contribution of domestic migration counteracted these trends so there were actually more counties growing than losing population.”
While most of the largest cities saw population decreases, the Census said 63% of metro areas had positive net domestic migration. The largest of those was the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler area, which saw an increase of 66,850.
“Phoenix has a very welcoming environment for new families, part of the reason the city added more population over the past decade than any other U.S. city,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego told The Center Square Thursday. “While the Census estimates for cities have not been released, the dynamic growth of Greater Phoenix is also being felt in our city. We’ve prepared for growth with smart policies, attracting high-value employment opportunities, and led the nation in life sciences job growth in 2021.”
Gallego touted the area’s business ecosystem attracting startups as well as legacy companies to expand.
“The Census reports Phoenix has the shortest average commute time of any major city,” she said. “This is important for families creating a positive work-life balance. Over the past five years, we’ve seen most of our new families coming from southern California, Chicago, and the northwest. However, because of our significant growth in technology and bioscience jobs, we’re also seeing large numbers of new families joining us from Asia, according to Census data.”
Los Angeles County saw the largest numeric decrease in population of any county, dropping 159,621 in total population.
Statewide, Arizona’s decennial Census figures saw growth but many were surprised that the population increase wasn’t enough to earn the state a 10th member of Congress for the first time since 1950. The difference between the last annual estimate and the official count was higher than in any other state. A total of 7,151,502 people called Arizona home as of April 1, 2020, according to the official 2020 count. An earlier estimate by census counters had the population as 7,421,401, a 3.6% difference that wasn’t in the state’s favor.
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This article was published in The Center Square and is reproduced with permission.
