Pima County, Arizona Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Pima County, 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 Pima County, Arizona. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Pima County, Arizona. The estimated population of Pima County, Arizona is 1,035,063 people, with a median age of 38.9.

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

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
1,035,063
 -0.33% +2.76%
2020
1,038,476
+1.1%
-
2019
1,027,207
+0.73%
-
2018
1,019,722
+1.24%
-
2017
1,007,257
 - -

Population of Pima County, 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
50.4%
52.6%
 -4.18%
Black/African American
3.2%
3.2%
 0.00%
Native
2.2%
2.4%
 -8.33%
Hispanic
38%
36.6%
 +3.83%
Asian
2.7%
2.6%
 +3.85%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
3.1%
2.3%
 +34.78%
Other
0.2%
0.1%
 +100.00%

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 Pima County, 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 38.9 +0.52% 37.5 +1.08% 40.4 -0.25%
2020 38.7 +0.52% 37.1 +0.82% 40.5 +0.25%
2019 38.5 +0.52% 36.8 +0.27% 40.4 +0.75%
2018 38.3 +0.26% 36.7 +0.27% 40.1 +0.5%
2017 38.2 - 36.6 - 39.9 -

The median age of Pima County, 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 61,694 -5.46% 58,455 -2.03% 58,388 57,270
10 to 19 65,453 +3.42% 63,989 -0.07% 67,722 63,941
20 to 29 79,431 +3.14% 74,496 +4.28% 81,903 77,703
30 to 39 61,213 +4.41% 59,368 +1.63% 63,946 60,330
40 to 49 55,353 +2.88% 56,583 +0.74% 56,936 56,999
50 to 59 60,540 -2.73% 64,868 -6.86% 58,899 60,530
60 to 69 56,222 +6.43% 65,149 +7.55% 59,911 70,168
70+ 55,808 +14.02% 68,635 +10.99% 64,014 76,403

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Pima County, Arizona is $59,215.00.

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 Pima County.

  • Under 25
    $31,386.00
  • 25 to 44
    $63,161.00
  • 45 to 64
    $71,567.00
  • 65 and over
    $53,285.00

Average Household Income

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

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Pima County, 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 Pima County, Arizona is currently $80,772.00.

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.

5.92% of households in Pima County 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 Pima County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    19.90%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    23.09%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    17.33%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    13.11%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    14.90%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    5.75%
  • $200,000 or more
    5.92%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Pima County is $33,016.00.

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

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

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Pima County 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
    17.98%
  • Bachelor's degree
    34.70%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    12.97%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    30.58%
  • Less than high school diploma
    3.77%

Employment

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

The total population of Pima County over the age of 16 is 843,701.

Of those people, a total of 58.70% 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 Pima County is 54.30%.

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 55,959 39.10% 20.40%
20 to 24 years 88,454 76.60% 9.30%
25 to 29 years 71,152 83.50% 7.20%
30 to 34 years 61,385 80.90% 5.20%
35 to 44 years 120,191 80.00% 5.20%
45 to 54 years 113,329 79.60% 3.80%
55 to 59 years 62,735 67.90% 5.00%
60 to 64 years 65,528 54.10% 4.40%
65 to 74 years 118,538 23.30% 4.10%
75 years and over 86,430 5.60% 5.30%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Pima County. 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 603,556 56.90% 5.50%
Black or African American 27,978 62.80% 8.50%
American Indian and Alaska Native 28,213 56.90% 11.00%
Asian 25,756 64.80% 4.40%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 1,263 74.10% 6.60%
Other 75,690 61.90% 6.90%
Two or more races 81,245 66.60% 8.80%
Hispanic or Latino 290,201 65.60% 6.70%
Not Hispanic or Latino 459,637 53.80% 5.40%

Occupations

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

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Pima County is 457,733, with median earnings of $35,576.00.

Women in Pima County, Arizona earning approximately 79.10% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 457,733 $35,576.00
Male 241,307 $40,050.00
Female 216,426 $31,679.00

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 42,405 $66,522.00
Business and Financial 22,008 $56,170.00
Computer and Mathematical 14,399 $71,919.00
Architecture and Engineering 13,357 $91,420.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 5,429 $57,091.00
Community and Social Service 8,493 $41,384.00
Legal 4,606 $62,970.00
Educational and Library 31,245 $37,056.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 9,290 $26,414.00
Healthcare Practitioners 29,196 $62,448.00
Healthcare Support 17,068 $23,584.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 6,866 $33,407.00
Law Enforcement 7,220 $61,038.00
Food Preparation and Serving 29,398 $16,512.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 19,456 $22,448.00
Personal Care and Service 13,122 $16,150.00
Sales 44,655 $29,434.00
Office and Administrative Support 58,161 $31,339.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 973 $20,200.00
Construction and Extraction 22,211 $34,794.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 15,063 $44,064.00
Production 15,035 $33,331.00
Transportation and Material Moving 13,678 $30,326.00

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 23,190 $78,172.00 19,215 $53,374.00
Business and Financial 10,434 $64,471.00 11,574 $51,170.00
Computer and Mathematical 10,740 $74,351.00 3,659 $60,219.00
Architecture and Engineering 11,469 $93,834.00 1,888 $82,564.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 2,980 $57,610.00 2,449 $56,424.00
Community and Social Service 2,819 $41,410.00 5,674 $41,368.00
Legal 2,139 $85,335.00 2,467 $50,037.00
Educational and Library 10,297 $38,862.00 20,948 $36,338.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 4,332 $31,500.00 4,958 $22,071.00
Healthcare Practitioners 8,824 $71,056.00 20,372 $59,558.00
Healthcare Support 3,619 $23,206.00 13,449 $23,668.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 5,456 $36,983.00 1,410 $20,833.00
Law Enforcement 6,005 $63,085.00 1,215 $44,570.00
Food Preparation and Serving 14,554 $17,682.00 14,844 $15,850.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 12,120 $25,683.00 7,336 $17,629.00
Personal Care and Service 3,404 $15,893.00 9,718 $16,258.00
Sales 22,975 $36,948.00 21,680 $23,663.00
Office and Administrative Support 16,132 $31,268.00 42,029 $31,374.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 662 $25,369.00 311 $18,087.00
Construction and Extraction 21,548 $34,916.00 663 $30,137.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 14,618 $44,296.00 445 $35,245.00
Production 11,120 $36,650.00 3,915 $29,634.00
Transportation and Material Moving 11,265 $32,291.00 2,413 $22,624.00

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 417,483 households in Pima County, with an average household size of 2.41 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 255,436 families in Pima County with an average family size of 3.04 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 181,403 23,455 50,578 162,047
Average Household Size 3.06 3.2 3.38 1.27
Total Families 181,403 23,455 50,578 0
Average Household Size 3.04 2.84 3.14 0

Poverty

Of the 255,436 families in Pima County, 10.60% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Pima County:

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 467,191 housing units in Pima County, Arizona.

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

Total Percentage
Occupied 417,483 89.36%
Vacant 49,708 10.64%

30.49% of the total 467,191 housing units in Pima County are rental units. This is approximately 142,430 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 267,835 are occupied by the owner - or 57.33% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Pima County is $976.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Pima County 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
    7,218
  • Less than $500
    7,809
  • $500 to $999
    66,688
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    47,859
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    14,691
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    2,771
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    1,096
  • $3,000 or more
    1,516

Property Value

The median value of a property in Pima County is $217,700.00.

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

  • Less than $50,000
    21,385
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    18,810
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    32,008
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    47,421
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    70,349
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    54,414
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    19,846
  • $1,000,000 or more
    3,602

Property Age

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

  • 1939 or earlier
    9,542
  • 1940 to 1949
    12,955
  • 1950 to 1959
    38,240
  • 1960 to 1969
    39,035
  • 1970 to 1979
    89,275
  • 1980 to 1989
    82,604
  • 1990 to 1999
    80,818
  • 2000 to 2009
    84,755
  • 2010 to 2013
    28,880
  • 2014 or later
    1,087

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 Pima County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    30,699
  • 1 vehicle available
    153,877
  • 2 vehicles available
    153,275
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    79,632

Commuting to Work

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

24.6 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Pima County.

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
    8,830
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    34,628
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    50,353
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    69,585
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    66,829
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    34,003
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    66,321
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    15,058
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    16,945
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    28,600
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    9,942
  • 90 or more minutes
    7,087

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Pima County, 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.

Places in Pima County, Arizona

We have data for 57 places in Pima County, Arizona. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.