Howard Fischer
Bet you can’t guess which city in Arizona grew faster last year than any other, percentage-wise.In fact, unless you’re familiar with the area, you may not be able to point to that six-square-mile city on a map.It’s Tolleson.And not by a little.New figures Thursday from the U.S. Census Bureau show Tolleson grew by nearly 30% between 2023 and 2024. Only Colorado City, on the border with Utah, came close at 22%.For pretty much everywhere else — particularly outside the two major metropolitan areas — the year-over-year change was a percentage point, or less.And 28 communities lost residents rather than growing.Overall, Arizona’s population grew an average of 1.3% during the period.
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There is no breakdown of where the new residents of each of the state’s 91 cities are coming from. But the Census Bureau report shows where they settle when they get here.Much in the report is no surprise.For years, many inner cities have been built up and land costs are high. Now, areas that used to be the suburbs are finding themselves in the same position.Even Chandler appears to have reached a plateau, showing a small annual population drop.That leaves what could be called the exurbs, the places on the fringes where land is still available, even if it means longer commutes for residents.In the Phoenix area, that has meant sprawl on the edges.Queen Creek grew by 8.1%, followed by the Pinal County communities of Casa Grande at 7.7%, Maricopa at 7.4%, Apache Junction at 7.2% and Coolidge at 7.1%.To accommodate all that, the state is extending SR 24 further into the county and planning a new north-south corridor as SR 505 plus a yet-to-be-designed east-west corridor. And Interstate 10 south of Chandler is being widened to handle more traffic.There’s also growth west and north of the Phoenix area, led by Goodyear with a 5.4% annual population increase, Surprise at 5.3% and Buckeye at 4.5%.All that compares with a 1.0% growth rate in Phoenix.In Pima County, Tucson added fewer than 4,100 new residents between 2023 and 2024, just enough to clock in at 0.7%. That compares with a 6.0% year-over-year increase in Marana and 2.5% in Sahuarita.Farther out, Benson added 1.9% to its population.But Tolleson, a landlocked community on the west edge of Phoenix, managed to outpace everyone …
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