For the second consecutive year Pinal County has the fastest growth rate in Arizona, while Maricopa County has again added the most new residents of any county in the U.S.
According to new Census Bureau estimates, Pinal County grew by 3.6% during the year ending July 1, 2022, adding just over 16,000 residents. This was actually a slowdown over the previous year, when the bureau reported the county grew 4.4%.
Its immediate neighbor to the north, Maricopa County, led the entire country in terms of sheer numeric growth with 56,831 additions, most of them coming from another part of the state or country. This amounts to about 2,000 more than the previous year’s gain and was about 11,000 more than the runner-up, Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston.
It is the fourth-largest county in the nation at 4.5 million behind Los Angeles, Cook (Chicago) and Harris counties.
New city and town population estimates will be released later this year but will not include unincorporated San Tan Valley, the county’s biggest population center at about 100,000.
Last year the bureau reported Queen Creek, Casa Grande and Maricopa were among the nation’s 10 fastest-growing cities with populations of 50,000 or more.
