PHOENIX — The population push out to the fringe communities surrounding Arizona’s major metropolitan areas continues.
New estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show five cities with double-digit population growth since the official 2010 head count, and four of them are in the outer growth rings around Phoenix.
A similar pattern shows up in Pima County, though not to the same extent. Marana grew 9.5 percent since the decennial census, with a 6.4 percent population boost in Sahuarita.
By comparison, the statewide growth rate was just 3.7 percent.
While Marana and Sahuarita showed sharp increases, Tucson managed to grow just 1.2 percent — a third of the state rate. Oro Valley did somewhat better at 1.5 percent, with landlocked South Tucson posting a 0.8 percent population increase.
Even the unincorporated areas of Pima County lagged behind the rest of the state, growing just 1.3 percent over that same period.
But the heaviest growth is in the ever-expanding ring surrounding the capital.
In fact, two of those Phoenix bedroom communities showed up among the nation’s fastest-growing cities with population growth of more than 50,000 over the past year.
Goodyear, at 4.8 percent, took the No. 6 slot on the one-year national growth chart, while Gilbert held down the No. 12 slot with its 4.0 percent annual population increase.
Looking at slightly longer trends since the 2010 census, and communities of all sizes, Queen Creek grew the most, at 12.6 percent. It was followed by Goodyear, with an 11.6 percent population increase since 2010, Buckeye with 11.4 percent, and Gilbert at 10.3 percent.
That growth moved those valley cities up the state’s population pecking order at the expense of more remote incorporated areas such as Flagstaff, Lake Havasu City and Kingman, which all bumped down a slot.
While they could not keep pace with the far suburbs, Phoenix and its closest surrounding neighbors continue to grow at a pace ahead of the rest of the state.
Phoenix itself showed a 4.7 percent population increase since 2010. Chandler and Peoria each grew 5.5 percent, with Surprise up 5.1 percent, Scottsdale growing 4.4 percent, Mesa with a 4.2 percent increase and Tempe at 4 percent. Glendale lagged the state slightly at 3.5 percent.
The one outlying community defying the urban growth trend was San Luis, south of Yuma, which according to the latest data added nearly 5,700 residents since the 2010 census — a 22.3 percent population boom for what had been a tiny border hamlet.
Former San Luis Mayor Tony Reyes, now a Yuma County supervisor, said San Luis offers two things that make it attractive: proximity to the international border and low-cost housing.
Reyes said there are many migrants who work in the United States but don’t want to go through the bother of crossing the border every morning. He presumes most are legal residents, as those without papers are unlikely to want to live in San Luis, “where the Border Patrol rides around in the backyard all the time.”
But not every community grew.
The report finds that Bisbee lost 215 residents since 2010, translating to a 3.9 percent reduction. Not far behind were Huachuca City with a 3.2 percent drop since the census, with Willcox and Litchfield Park each down 3.1 percent.
But there are many more Arizona communities the Census Bureau says had shed population since the annual count. Most already were small cities, but that list also includes Yuma, Bullhead City and Florence.
