Arizona Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Arizona, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Arizona. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Arizona. The estimated population of Arizona is 7,079,203 people, with a median age of 38.1.

We can look at the total population in Arizona over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
7,079,203
 -1.32% +3.95%
2020
7,174,064
+1.76%
-
2019
7,050,299
+1.49%
-
2018
6,946,685
+2.01%
-
2017
6,809,946
 - -

Population of Arizona by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
53.4%
55.6%
 -3.96%
Black/African American
4.2%
4.1%
 +2.44%
Native
3.6%
3.9%
 -7.69%
Hispanic
31.9%
30.9%
 +3.24%
Asian
3.2%
3%
 +6.67%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.2%
0.2%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
3.2%
2.2%
 +45.45%
Other
0.3%
0.1%
 +200.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Arizona by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 38.1 +0.53% 37 +0.82% 39.3 0%
2020 37.9 +0.53% 36.7 +1.1% 39.3 +0.77%
2019 37.7 +0.8% 36.3 +0.55% 39 +0.78%
2018 37.4 +0.54% 36.1 +0.56% 38.7 +0.52%
2017 37.2 - 35.9 - 38.5 -

The median age of Arizona gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 453,917 -4.1% 435,725 -4.26% 435,518 417,309
10 to 19 469,592 +3.9% 451,040 +3.81% 488,108 468,405
20 to 29 495,115 +2.03% 457,395 +2.74% 504,709 469,770
30 to 39 443,366 +6.75% 427,108 +4.88% 474,030 448,179
40 to 49 419,154 +2.86% 415,367 +1.53% 431,236 421,691
50 to 59 408,028 +2.76% 431,451 -0.23% 419,380 430,297
60 to 69 356,977 +8.29% 401,948 +7.49% 387,387 432,528
70+ 338,906 +15.36% 404,857 +12.51% 393,527 457,129

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Arizona is $65,913.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Arizona.

  • Under 25
    $39,880.00
  • 25 to 44
    $72,443.00
  • 45 to 64
    $79,030.00
  • 65 and over
    $52,250.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Arizona, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Arizona, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Arizona is currently $89,693.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

7.42% of households in Arizona are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Arizona against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    16.61%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    21.10%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    18.19%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    13.47%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    16.26%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    6.95%
  • $200,000 or more
    7.42%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Arizona is $34,644.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Arizona by the total population of Arizona.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Arizona, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Arizona to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    15.07%
  • Bachelor's degree
    33.66%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    13.34%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    34.05%
  • Less than high school diploma
    3.88%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Arizona that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Arizona over the age of 16 is 5,650,624.

Of those people, a total of 60.60% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Arizona is 56.80%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 380,761 39.60% 17.80%
20 to 24 years 477,856 77.30% 8.90%
25 to 29 years 496,623 82.20% 6.60%
30 to 34 years 470,047 80.90% 5.20%
35 to 44 years 882,914 80.60% 4.40%
45 to 54 years 838,963 79.90% 3.90%
55 to 59 years 432,889 70.50% 4.10%
60 to 64 years 426,712 54.00% 3.60%
65 to 74 years 731,373 23.10% 4.20%
75 years and over 512,486 5.80% 4.90%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Arizona. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 4,098,812 59.00% 5.00%
Black or African American 244,512 67.80% 8.30%
American Indian and Alaska Native 225,318 53.30% 11.50%
Asian 194,963 66.00% 3.60%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 11,147 69.20% 7.10%
Other 377,949 65.30% 5.80%
Two or more races 497,923 67.40% 7.30%
Hispanic or Latino 1,615,857 66.70% 6.10%
Not Hispanic or Latino 3,247,102 56.90% 4.80%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Arizona as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Arizona is 3,210,791, with median earnings of $39,929.00.

Women in Arizona earning approximately 78.60% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 3,210,791 $39,929.00
Male 1,720,517 $44,462.00
Female 1,490,274 $34,933.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 331,588 $73,509.00
Business and Financial 188,910 $61,223.00
Computer and Mathematical 110,651 $79,261.00
Architecture and Engineering 72,901 $89,157.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 26,162 $60,475.00
Community and Social Service 51,735 $43,426.00
Legal 31,328 $72,354.00
Educational and Library 180,865 $40,850.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 57,959 $38,496.00
Healthcare Practitioners 188,076 $64,525.00
Healthcare Support 100,174 $25,708.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 43,673 $36,762.00
Law Enforcement 35,929 $60,791.00
Food Preparation and Serving 183,292 $17,536.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 130,921 $24,028.00
Personal Care and Service 84,259 $19,917.00
Sales 341,291 $35,560.00
Office and Administrative Support 411,891 $34,408.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 17,123 $25,697.00
Construction and Extraction 166,622 $38,523.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 105,412 $44,927.00
Production 123,389 $36,282.00
Transportation and Material Moving 113,534 $37,850.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 190,533 $84,412.00 141,055 $60,282.00
Business and Financial 87,723 $69,651.00 101,187 $55,654.00
Computer and Mathematical 82,392 $82,996.00 28,259 $71,199.00
Architecture and Engineering 62,651 $91,336.00 10,250 $77,706.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 14,153 $60,326.00 12,009 $60,550.00
Community and Social Service 18,290 $45,000.00 33,445 $42,653.00
Legal 13,018 $102,843.00 18,310 $64,221.00
Educational and Library 51,895 $45,695.00 128,970 $38,509.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 30,013 $43,787.00 27,946 $32,534.00
Healthcare Practitioners 55,348 $79,373.00 132,728 $61,443.00
Healthcare Support 19,105 $26,093.00 81,069 $25,640.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 32,902 $38,498.00 10,771 $33,112.00
Law Enforcement 29,117 $63,829.00 6,812 $48,244.00
Food Preparation and Serving 87,929 $19,966.00 95,363 $16,419.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 81,981 $27,000.00 48,940 $19,680.00
Personal Care and Service 21,330 $23,191.00 62,929 $18,385.00
Sales 180,442 $44,766.00 160,849 $26,687.00
Office and Administrative Support 118,684 $35,210.00 293,207 $34,163.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 13,050 $29,211.00 4,073 $14,478.00
Construction and Extraction 160,883 $38,743.00 5,739 $33,379.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 100,835 $45,345.00 4,577 $36,607.00
Production 92,048 $40,256.00 31,341 $27,750.00
Transportation and Material Moving 93,956 $40,820.00 19,578 $27,285.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 2,683,557 households in Arizona, with an average household size of 2.58 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 1,747,769 families in Arizona with an average family size of 3.16 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 1,270,166 152,051 325,552 935,788
Average Household Size 3.2 3.34 3.52 1.3
Total Families 1,270,166 152,051 325,552 0
Average Household Size 3.17 2.91 3.25 0

Poverty

Of the 1,747,769 families in Arizona, 9.50% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Arizona:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 3,056,890 housing units in Arizona.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 2,683,557 87.79%
Vacant 373,333 12.21%

28.57% of the total 3,056,890 housing units in Arizona are rental units. This is approximately 873,415 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 1,765,658 are occupied by the owner - or 57.76% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Arizona is $1,172.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Arizona that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    44,484
  • Less than $500
    43,235
  • $500 to $999
    263,934
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    333,934
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    164,583
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    43,253
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    11,937
  • $3,000 or more
    12,539

Property Value

The median value of a property in Arizona is $265,600.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Arizona that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    123,414
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    97,704
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    138,763
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    219,161
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    453,297
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    485,461
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    206,680
  • $1,000,000 or more
    41,178

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Arizona. The chart below shows the number of properties in Arizona that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    41,995
  • 1940 to 1949
    44,043
  • 1950 to 1959
    156,690
  • 1960 to 1969
    213,258
  • 1970 to 1979
    495,275
  • 1980 to 1989
    528,610
  • 1990 to 1999
    593,869
  • 2000 to 2009
    711,438
  • 2010 to 2013
    263,515
  • 2014 or later
    8,197

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Arizona that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    149,798
  • 1 vehicle available
    926,262
  • 2 vehicles available
    1,019,805
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    587,692

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Arizona get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Arizona that commute to work in a particular way.

25.7 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Arizona.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    75,511
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    262,640
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    360,325
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    427,475
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    428,551
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    212,911
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    406,897
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    94,747
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    117,838
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    219,512
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    138,944
  • 90 or more minutes
    57,631

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Arizona in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Counties in Arizona

We have data for 15 counties in Arizona. Click on a county below to see more information about the demographics of that county, with links to cities and towns within that county.

Zip Codes in Arizona

If you want to find out more about the population and demographics of specific zip codes in Arizona, click on the links below.