The Arizona Republic
Jun. 27, 2006 12:00 AM
Maricopa County is home to 3.7 million people and has been growing an average of 313 people a day since the 2000 census.
Based on an $8.1 million survey, the figures released Monday by the Maricopa Association of Governments are the first official population calculations in 5 1/2 years.
The county has added 628,367 residents in that time, for an increase of 20.5 percent.
The figures will be the basis in the next five years for the county, its cities and towns to receive their share of about $1.7 billion a year in taxes distributed by the state largely on the basis of population.
Under contract with MAG, the Census Bureau contacted, on average, one in every 13 homes in the county to produce results with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Phoenix, with nearly 155,000 new residents, pushed to within 24,000 of the 1.5 million mark. Mesa, the Valley's second-largest city, grew by nearly 52,000 people to more than 448,000.
Phenomenal growth swept some of the Valley's smaller cities and towns.
El Mirage, starting from a base of 7,609 in 2000, absorbed 24,452 more residents for the top growth rate of 321 percent.
Surprise posted a 186 percent gain with the addition of more than 57,000 people for a total of 88,265.
Goodyear, with the latest count of 46,213, increased 144 percent as more than 27,000 newcomers settled in.
The state Department of Economic Security's estimate for the county, dated three months earlier, was short of actual growth by 52,000 people, or 8.3 percent.
Based on an $8.1 million survey, the figures released Monday by the Maricopa Association of Governments are the first official population calculations in 5 1/2 years.
The county has added 628,367 residents in that time, for an increase of 20.5 percent.
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The figures will be the basis in the next five years for the county, its cities and towns to receive their share of about $1.7 billion a year in taxes distributed by the state largely on the basis of population.
Under contract with MAG, the Census Bureau contacted, on average, one in every 13 homes in the county to produce results with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Phoenix, with nearly 155,000 new residents, pushed to within 24,000 of the 1.5 million mark. Mesa, the Valley's second-largest city, grew by nearly 52,000 people to more than 448,000.
Phenomenal growth swept some of the Valley's smaller cities and towns.
El Mirage, starting from a base of 7,609 in 2000, absorbed 24,452 more residents for the top growth rate of 321 percent.
Surprise posted a 186 percent gain with the addition of more than 57,000 people for a total of 88,265.
Goodyear, with the latest count of 46,213, increased 144 percent as more than 27,000 newcomers settled in.
The state Department of Economic Security's estimate for the county, dated three months earlier, was short of actual growth by 52,000 people, or 8.3 percent.
